The Sealed Past
by eatorbeaten
Summary: Break is more or less content with his current life when a figure from his past returns to haunt him, demanding for his help. The thing is that Break doesn't want anything to do with his previous life. Takes place after the anime ending.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything from Pandora Hearts except for my character, I guess.  
>So anyways, this is my first fanfic, enjoy and be as cruel as you want to be, I don't really care. I like constructive criticism. Please review, it's nice to read other people's opinions!<br>I have nothing else to rant about so enjoy! XD**

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><p>She opened her eyes, blearily. It was dark, so dark. The blackness seemed to be pressing at her, enveloping her mind in a warm, black blanket. It was not uncomfortable and she really wanted to close her eyes again and drift off into another long sleep.<p>

She yawned. She was so tired, all she needed to do was to close her heavy eyelids and she would be oblivious to the world surrounding her for a few more years or even centuries if she was lucky.

Before she could close her eyes, she suddenly felt a strong presence tugging her, pulling her away from the darkness. She wanted to ignore the tugging, it was so annoying, but there was a sudden jerk, a flash of pain and she saw a tunnel of light that had appeared in front of her.

The light was so bright that it made the darkness that was so comfortable moments ago seem disgustingly repulsive. Without a second thought, she followed the tugging feeling and stepped into the light.

The light enveloped her and she felt as if something long lost had been returned. The world of blackness was pulled away from her and for the first time, she was not weary as she opened her eyes. The light had filled her with a sense of purpose and she was now alert, slightly wary as she continued to follow the tugging.

As she walked blindly, only following the pulling sensation in her gut, she saw another tunnel of light, not as bright as the first one but more comforting, more real somehow. Without hesitation, she ran straight for the light and when she reached it, she was bombarded with an explosion of sensations.

The colours were so vivid, so bright that they hurt her eyes. The rays of warmth from a shining ball in the sky were soothing against her pale skin and music was all around her, coming from the sweet mouths of little feathered creatures. She gasped and marveled at the burst of cool air that flowed into her lungs, tickling her very being.

Laughing, she ran, not feeling even a bit out of breath as she sprinted across the land, green grass brushing against her bare feet. This world was so much brighter than the blackness before, it chased away her sleepiness with a single view of its wonders.

Finally, she stopped and lay on the ground, panting and still laughing. This world was so different, amazing and alien but yet…

She sat up, suddenly frowning. This world felt vaguely familiar, as if she had been here once upon a time. But no, it was impossible, how could she have forgotten such a bright and bold world in the darkness? It was utterly absurd!

She brushed away her worries and got up, wanting to run again, to feel the wind blow through her long black hair. However, the moment she took a step, there was a sharp pain in her abdomen and a second pain in her head. She fell to the ground, gasping and twitching as a torrent of thoughts and pictures flooded her mind.

Through all the chaos, she was able to pick out a few images among the many. There was a white-haired man with white bandages over one eye, laughing with a young girl in a sparkly pink dress. She saw the same man tugging at his bandages, roughly pushing away a young teenager and the same man savagely destroying straw dummies with a silver blade.

The memories-at least she presumed they were memories-were flowing non-stop, relentlessly, a jumble of somewhat familiar people, words and thoughts and were entwined with other memories, only a few standing out. She didn't know whether if it was completely coincidental or not but all the memories she could pick out had the white-haired man in it.

After what seemed like months or years or even minutes or seconds as she could not tell, the memories stopped and she was able to think without pain again. The tugging feeling had returned and she followed it once more.

The sky had darkened considerably and a few solitary stars shone in the black velvet folds, reminding her of the dark prison of blackness she had slept in for so long. A brisk wind picked up and she shivered, noticing she was only wearing a flimsy summer dress. Sighing, she wished she had something warmer to wear and as if on cue, a thick black-red cloak and a long black coat appeared, replacing the dress.

She stopped for a moment, slightly confused. Where had the clothes come from? Frowning, she inspected the fabric and saw that the coat and cloak seemed to have been woven from tiny threads of light. In fact, when she peered at her surroundings carefully, the lights seemed to be everywhere, covering trees, grass, drifting in the sky.

**_Collect the lights in your mind and you can create anything_.**

She was startled by the commanding voice in her head but she did as it said. She tried to gather the lights and ended up with a pair of soft leather boots. Giggling, she put on the boots and tried again, picturing objects from the lights. Soon enough, a heap of random items, most of them useless, were piled at her feet. She frowned. She didn't need any of them. What was she going to do with them?

_**Release the lights.**_

The voice came again and so she picked up the first object she saw, a teacup, and pictured the lights breaking apart from each other. When she opened her eyes again, the teacup was gone and soft golden lights were drifting in the sky once more. She then proceeded to release all the lights from their forms but decided to keep the cloak, coat and boots. The tugging feeling had returned so she trudged through the darkness, following the insistent pull.

As she walked, the voice spoke to her, teaching her things she once, without a doubt, knew. It spoke and spoke and as it did, she felt more real, as if she belonged in this world which she probably did, a long time ago.

By the time she reached a huge mansion, she knew exactly who she was and what she was here for. The tugging sensation had now stopped, telling her she had arrived at her designation and she sat underneath an oak tree just as the first rays of the pale morning sun kissed the dark sky.

She leaned against the tree, yawning. Slowly, she closed her eyes, only one thought penetrating her peace, disturbing her. She now knew of the reason why she had been summoned out of the darkness. She had unfinished business with a resident of this world she had met the last time she visited.

She was here for the white-haired man, the Mad Hatter.

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><p><strong>Sorry that there weren't any of our favourite characters we know so well in this chapter but they'll be showing up in the next chapter!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

"What a nice day!"

Break raised his teacup. He was enjoying afternoon tea on a balcony of the Rainsworth's mansion.

"The sun is shining-"

A ray of pale sunlight peeked out from behind gloomy storm clouds.

"The birds are singing-"

A few crows landed beside the carcass of a squirrel, cawing as they fought over the decaying remains.

"The perfect day for tea, yet…"

"Break! Finish your tea, you have been at it far too long. Besides, it's imprudent." A young lady with light brown hair in a poofy purple dress crossed her arms sternly.

"Yes, yes, of course, Sharon-sama. I know, I know. After all, you _have_ told me those exact words only a few thousand times." The white haired man grinned, eying his company with his single red eye.

"Hmph. You could actually listen to me for once." Sharon frowned in disapproval.

"I could but what's the fun in that?" Break chuckled, sipping his tea, "Hmm… not sweet enough."

Break picked out a few sugar cubes and dropped them in his tea which was already so thick, it almost had the consistency of honey. He stuck his fork in the liquid and stirred, plopping a few more sugar cubes in every few seconds. He raised the cup to his mouth again.

"How is it possible for you to empty half the sugar cubes in that sugar jar in one cup of tea?" Sharon frowned again. "I just refilled that yesterday, too."

"Ha! Well, that's Break for you!" A cheerful blonde teenage boy laughed, "I bet that tea has enough sugar in it to knock out all of Pandora for a week!"

"He's a clown," a teenage girl, a brunette, was chomping down on a large steak in the corner, her mouth covered in barbeque sauce. "What did you expect of him?"

"Alice-kun, don't be so rude." Break licked his lips and toyed with a sugar cube. "After all, this is _my_ tea party and you are _my_ guest and that is _my_ meat you're pigging out on oh so disgustingly."

"Humph," Alice turned back to her meat, savagely attacking it with her knife.

"That reminds me," Oz laughed again and dropped a sugar cube in his own tea. "Break, I'm curious, why a tea party today?"

"What do you mean, Oz-kun? Do you not like my tea parties? Did I interrupt something important by inviting you to my tea party?" Xerxes Break set down his teacup, frowning.

"No, of course not! I'm just wondering why you chose today out of all days for a tea party." Oz added hurriedly.

"What's wrong with today? Do you have something against Mondays? Is the weather not nice? Hmm? Oz-kun?" Break hid his face behind a ridiculously long sleeve.

"Er… About the weather…."

"Yes?"

"Well, I mean no offense but you do realize that the weather is not the nicest today?" Oz said awkwardly.

"What do you mean? The sun is out and the birds are singing! What more could you want?" Break smiled.

"Umm…"

"Break, stop playing around, I agree with Oz, it's a horrible day for tea! Why _did _you choose today? It's going to rain for heaven's sake! And, of course, we had to have tea outside on the balcony too. We are going to get so wet..." A man with messy black hair and gold eyes scowled.

Break waved the complaints away with one hand and speared a piece of cake in the other.

"Nonsense, Raven! How can there be rain on such a fine day like this?" Break propped his legs on the table, munching on a cake. "Besides, it's only proper for you to agree with Oz, a servant's duty is to agree with his master!"

Gilbert crossed his arms and opened his mouth to retort back but before he could utter a word, a few drops of rain fell from the heavens. Before the group could react, it was pouring, thoroughly soaking everything.

"Well, what do you know? How ironic, it _does_ appear to be raining," Break peered up at the gloomy sky with an odd smile on his face. "How strange…"

"Clown," Alice looked up from her meat. "I bet you knew it was going to rain but you dragged us out here anyways."

"Alice-kun, there's nothing to fret. The rain will stop soon." Break eyed his soggy cake which was now inedible. Pity, he hadn't even gotten to try it yet.

Sure enough, the rain stopped within minutes although the day remained as overcast as ever. A thin layer of water covered everything.

Break took out a wrapped hard candy from his pocket and rolled it between his fingers, slightly worried. This rain was not normal, the way it started and stopped without warning. It was unnatural.

"See?" Break unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth. "I told you the rain would stop."

"My meat got wet," Alice muttered. "It's your fault, clown. A tea party sucks without meat."

"**Stupid rabbit! You don't eat meat at a tea party!**" A blue doll on Break's shoulder cackled.

"Now, now, Emily, it's not polite to blurt out the truth like that." Break winked at Alice. "I'm sure our guest just isn't smart enough to figure out the difference between tea and an all-you-can-eat-meat-buffet."

"You!" Alice got out of her seat, swinging a fist, only to be pushed down again by Oz.

"He, he… Alice, I'm sure we can solve this problem without any violence," Oz rubbed the back of his head. "You do remember what happened last time you picked a fight with Break."

"Shut up, manservant," Alice blushed as she recalled how she ended up in a rose bush. "But I still want my meat!"

"Why don't you ask Gil to get you more meat?" Oz grinned mischievously.

"Oz," Sharon interrupted warningly. "You know what's going to happen…"

It was true, they all knew what was going to happen. Every time Alice and Gil spoke to each other, it ended up in an argument. It was very good entertainment but in the end, they had to be separated before either of them could actually get hurt. Usually, Oz was the only one who could get the two to stop.

Oz laughed cheerfully, "It's alright, I'm sure Gil would be willing to help you, Alice."

Alice nodded.

"Oi! Seaweed head! Get me more meat!"

"In your dreams, stupid rabbit," Gilbert calmly lit a cigarette and took a long drag.

"Why you!" Alice glared daggers at the black-haired man. "Seaweed head, I _order_ you to get me more meat!"

"You can't order me around, I'm not your servant!"

"Ha! Stupid seaweed head, of course you're my servant!" Alice threw back her head and laughed. "You're the servant of my manservant which makes you my servant as well!"

"What? No! Oz, tell this stupid rabbit I'm not her property!" Gil protested.

"Well Gil, she's got you there. If I'm her property and you're my servant, then that does make you her property as well…" Oz smiled sheepishly.

"But Oz-"

"No more talking! I want my meat, now!" The Chain pouted. "Seaweed head, go fetch me my meat!"

"Get it yourself, you stupid carnivorous rabbit!"

"No! You're my servant, _you_ get me meat!"

"I'm not your servant! Besides, I don't even know where the meat is!"

"But I want my meat!"

"Go ask Break where the meat is! He's the one who organized this whole tea party!"

"I don't want to talk to the clown! He's annoying!" Alice whined.

"Then don't ask him!" Gil sighed, exasperated.

"You go ask him, you're my servant!"

"For the last time, I'm NOT YOUR SERVANT! Why can't you understand that? Are you really as stupid as you look?"

The usual bickering started up. Gilbert and Alice were glaring at each other, waving their arms furiously as they shouted. Gilbert aimed his gun at the Chain and Oz hurriedly stepped in, trying to break up the fight.

"Violence isn't the answer!"

"I'm not this stupid rabbit's servant!"

"I want MEAT!"

"Here we go again!" Break was cheerful as he plopped down next to Sharon. "They never cease to amaze me with their endless arguing!"

"And always over the most insignificant things," Sharon quietly sipped at her tea. "I knew Oz shouldn't have started that again."

"Ah… well… Poor Oz, he's paying for it now." Break pulled out a swirly lollipop. "They're tearing him apart."

True to his words, Alice and Gilbert had each grabbed Oz by an arm and were pulling him. Despite the physical exertion, they still managed to have the breath to shout at each other.

"He's _my_ property! Get your hands off my manservant!" Alice tugged Oz's arm.

"No, he's my master!" Gilbert tugged back, "Stop pulling him! You're going to hurt him!"

"Why don't YOU let go? Stop… Touching… _My… _Property!" Alice yanked back, almost wrenching Oz's arm out of his socket.

"Both of you let go! You're hurting me!" Oz shouted, trying to free his arms.

"You let go first!" Alice and Gilbert said at the same time to each other.

"Yes, the usual…" Break licked his lollipop, muttering to himself. "But something seems… off…"

"What are you talking about, Break? Everything's fine." Sharon glanced up from her tea.

Break glanced up, he didn't mean for Sharon to hear him.

"You're right, Ojou-sama." Break flashed a grin at his lady. "I must be getting paranoid."

Break stuck the lollipop in his mouth and walked over to the edge of the balcony, sweeping his gaze over the grounds.

Still, something _was_ off. The sky seemed different, greyer and more sinister. The flowers glistening with rain seemed more shrivelled. It was almost as if the very earth was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. And it was so quiet, too. The crows were now out of sight, having abandoned the squirrel carcass.

Break chewed on his lollipop, making loud crunching sounds. As he surveyed the gardens, he swore he saw a flash of red and black out of the corner of his eye.

He frowned and narrowed his eye, trying to locate the flash again. However, it was of no use, he couldn't find it. Maybe it was just his imagination… or the countless sugar cubes he had just consumed with his tea.

"Break?"

Break whipped his head around, the sudden noise startling him. Sharon was standing there uncertainly, not understanding the sudden mood change.

"Yes, milady?"

"Are you feeling alright? You seem worried." Sharon's eyes widened with concern.

"It's nothing, Ojou-sama. I'm fine." Break glanced back at the rest. They were still fighting over Oz. "Everything's normal. Or at least as normal it's going to get."

"If you say so, Break… But if anything's bothering you, don't hesitate to tell me." Sharon rested a hand on Break's shoulder.

"Of course, milady," He smiled reassuringly.

Break suddenly turned again. He swore he saw the black and red flash again. Break inspected the landscape until he noticed a dark red, almost black cloak, billowing in the wind, under an oak tree. From what he could make of it, Break swore he saw a flash of white teeth in the shadows, grinning. A figure seemed to be beckoning him forward, inviting him to join it.

"Excuse me, milady, I have to… ah… attend to a certain matter." Break grabbed his cane and rushed off the balcony.

He felt Sharon's curious stare on his back but ignored it. After all, he had more urgent matters to attend to, much more important matters.

He headed for the stairs, descending three stairs at a time. There was this dreadful ball of anxiety in his stomach, whispering fear-seeding words in his mind.

_Is it her? Is she finally here after fifteen long years?_

Break narrowed his blood-red eye. It couldn't be her, it couldn't be. Not after all that time! But he knew that it was her, the grin, everything. How dare she come back, how dare she! After what she did, what she said. He had made it quite clear that he never wanted to see her again.

Break opened the front doors and there she was, leaning casually against the oak tree where they first met, dark red cloak flapping in the wind, grinning. Break gripped his cane so hard that his knuckles turned white.

He would make her pay.


	3. Chapter 3

Break's thumb hovered over the handle of his sword as he watched the red-garbed figure, ready to attack at any given moment.

She was wearing the exact same clothing as the time they first met. A heavy black-red cloak, a long black coat with red and gold designs with one sleeve rolled up to her left shoulder, baring her pale arm. A black cravat, a short black skirt, silver-grey leggings and dark brown leather boots completed her look. Sharon would not approve of her dressing style, very unladylike indeed.

Break followed the figure's movements as she slowly turned her head to face him, what he could see of her face split into a wide grin, more of a baring of teeth than anything else.

The girl slowly raised a hand and waved in an infuriatingly mocking way.

"Mr. Mad Hatter, long time no see!" Her eyes were blocked by her hood but they were probably glistening in menace, no doubt about it.

Break hissed. "You! How dare you return?"

"What do you mean, Hatter?" She cocked her head. "Are you not happy to see me? We only met for a short time the last time; I'm pleasantly surprised you still remember me."

"As if I could forget you!" Break unsheathed his sword in a single fluid motion and charged at the cloaked figure.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

The girl stood there, unarmed as Break got closer, until the last second when she vaulted herself onto the tree, avoiding a blow with his sword.

"Tsk, tsk. You're just as hot-headed as ever. No manners indeed." Her grin grew wider. "Well then, Hatter, looks like I'll have to teach them to you!"

Leaping out of the tree, suspended in the air, she seemed to be holding a ball of golden light which quickly took form as a thin black sword.

She raised the sword with both hands and brought it down, aiming for Break's head.

Break barely had enough time to raise his sheath, blocking the sword, although, to his annoyance, the force of the attack was strong enough to make a large scratch in the previously flawless black wood.

They were both blown back by the force of the attack and the defense. She was still grinning, sharp teeth flashing while Break was gritting his teeth. The girl was as strong as ever.

"Hatter, I'm impressed!" The girl cooed, "so much faster than last time."

Break ignored her mocking laughter and tried again, running towards her laughing figure. He raised the sword and slashed diagonally. Had he made contact, he would've split her abdomen open and her intestines would've poured out.

"But still too slow!" She sang as she jumped back, her cloak billowing, narrowly avoiding the sword. "Allow me to demonstrate!"

The hooded girl leaped into the air and preformed a move with the sword that involved many twists and turns, probably designed to confuse the defender. Suddenly, she lunged forward, driving her blade towards his heart.

Break raised his sword and managed to deflect the attack but she was unfazed, her cloak flowing out behind her as she followed up with many slashes that would've gutted him like a fish if he hadn't parried all the blows.

Her smile became a snarl, her teeth were bared and she was growling. Her stabs came faster and harder but Break was still able to deflect, block or dodge them all.

Break blocked one blow and managed to throw a slash of his own, nicking her on her bare arm.

"Who's slow now?" Break challenged, whirling around in the inferno of blades.

The hooded figure examined her left arm, slightly frowning as blood poured out as she continued to slash at Break, although she was required to defend herself from his attacks as well.

"That was beginner's luck," she twirled around, laughing. "I have barely started."

To prove her point, she spun, dragging her sword and struck, slashing across Break's lower leg. The girl raised her blade to her face and wiped some blood off her sword using her fingertip.

Break stumbled back, panting slightly. She was fast, he didn't even see the sword when it came, cutting his leg. Break straightened up and was about to lunge at her again-

"Stop!"

Both Break and the hooded figure spun around, looking for the speaker. Sharon was running through the grass, lifting her long dress slightly so she wouldn't trip on it. Oz, Alice and Gil followed closely behind.

While the red-garbed figure was staring blankly in Sharon's direction, Break lunged forward, kicking the black sword out of her hands. While she was disarmed, he proceeded to slash her across the chest, an arc of red spraying into the air.

In shock, she slowly toppled backwards onto the grass, her red blood staining the green. Her hood fell to reveal a pair of stunned black eyes. She was clutching at her stomach, panting. The black sword, which landed a few feet away, slowly dissolved into a burst of golden light.

Break dropped his blood-stained sword and sat down heavily, wincing as he put his weight on the leg that had been injured. He glanced at Sharon with his tired red eye.

"Ojou-sama, why are you here?"

Sharon ran over to Break and slapped him across the face. "Why am I here? You run off without saying a word and I find you fighting with a Baskerville and losing too!"

"She's no Baskerville." Break stared at the fallen figure.

"She's wearing a red cloak." Alice stated. "Even I know what a Baskerville looks like."

"Her cloak isn't red, it's black-red. Besides, have you seen a Baskerville that looks like her?" Break pointed at the cloak.

Her black eyes were so dark, dark enough to lose yourself in its pits. She had long ebony hair that was left down, her fringe almost covering her eyes. A few stray locks were brushed back behind her ears. Her milky-pale skin contradicted against her black eyes and hair, the veins clearly showing underneath its fragile surface. She looked no older than thirteen.

With the strange combination of dark and light, the fallen one did not look human, especially when her grace and lithe were put into consideration.

"… You killed her?" Sharon turned pale.

"What are you talking about, Ojou-sama?"

"You told me that Baskervilles have extraordinary healing capacities but if this isn't a Baskerville… Who can survive that kind of wound?" Sharon freaked.

"Baskervilles aren't the only ones who can heal."

Startled, they all turned. Break, on an impulse, reached for his sword but it wasn't there. It was in the hand of a certain blood-covered, grinning red-cloaked figure. Her hood was down this time and her crystal-clear obsidian eyes scanned all of them, as if she was looking into their souls.

"Give me my sword back!" Break got up, swaying unsteadily.

"Come and get it!"

The girl laughed and leapt for the white-haired man. She slashed and stabbed in a furry of motion and Break could barely avoid becoming skewered. Slowly, he was backed to the trunk of the oak tree. The girl stopped her sudden attack and swung the sword around dangerously, laughing and walking away from Break.

"You have improved. If you fought like the last time we met, your guts would be on the ground right now." The girl had her back exposed to Break. "Yet there is room for improvement. You are still too stiff, too rigid."

The others glanced at each other in awe. Who was this lady who dared to scold Break, the ultimate swords master in Pandora? She appeared to be so young, how could the two of them have met in the past?

"What have you been doing these past, oh, fifteen years or so?" The girl continued, "Did you not train at all?"

Break inhaled sharply. The girl was getting too close to what had happened those long years ago. He didn't want this girl to explain, she would twist everything that came out of her little mouth. He shifted slightly, preparing to lunge for his sword.

She saw the movement in the corner of her eye and quickly whirled around, raising the silver blade.

"Oh no, you don't!" The girl hurtled the sword through the air and it left her hand true, not wobbling the slightest as it flew for Break's head.

Break watched his blade flying, getting close with each heartbeat. He closed his eye, accepting the inevitable, smiling slightly. How ironic, to be finally finished by his own sword, the very sword he had conquered countless enemies with.

"Fool!"

Someone slapped his across his face.

Break opened his eye, startled by the slap.

The girl was standing in front of him, the blade of the sword balanced in her left hand, between her index and middle fingers, an inch before his forehead. Somehow, she had managed to cross the distance to the oak tree in the split-seconds after he had closed his eye and caught the sword before it could kill him.

"You fool!" The girl clenched the blade of the sword in her hand, not caring as the sharp edge cut her, as blood trickled down her wrist. "You utter fool! I saw you!"

Break stood there, dumbfounded. He didn't understand a single word of what the red-garbed girl was saying other than insulting him.

"You gave up! You assumed you would die!" She plunged the sword into the oak tree, narrowing missing Break's right ear. "Have I taught you nothing?"

"What do you mean?" Break croaked, his throat dry, "There was nothing I could do!"

"Wrong!" The girl shouted with such intensity. "There's always something! You could've dodged it or even pluck it out of the air! You're certainly fast enough! Instead, you stood there helplessly like a dumb cow waiting slaughtering!"

"I-"

"Shut up!" She yanked the sword out of the tree trunk and sheathed it, handing it to the flabbergasted white-haired man.

The girl walked away, the blood from her hand marking a red path on the grass. It would heal soon enough. As she walked, Break unsheathed his sword and closed the distance between her quickly. Without turning, the girl spoke.

"What do you want, Hatter?"

Break said nothing but pointed the sword at her back. Slowly, the girl turned around, grinning once more.

"So I see. I assume you wish to finish this, _Kevin_." It was a statement, not a question.

"My name isn't Kevin!" Break thrust his blade at her chest, only for it to be caught by the girl's hand, the uninjured one. She grabbed onto the keen silver edge, refusing to let go even when blood flowed openly down her wrist.

"Is that so? Kevin?" The girl's grin got wider, almost freaky. "I don't see much difference between then and now."

"Don't call me that! I'm not Kevin!" It took all his self control not to immediately stab the girl in her twisted black heart.

"_Kevin._"

Howling in anger, Break pushed his sword forward and the blade slid through the girl's hand and into her chest.

The girl's mouth widened in surprise for a moment as her heart dashed itself to pieces against the silver edge before it turned into a grin once more. Break pulled the sword out, which was now glistening in dark red blood, and collapsed on his knees, panting. The girl raised a hand and spoke so softly that only Break could hear her words.

"You claim you are not Kevin," she whispered, "Yet you did as Kevin would. Hatter, you can't run from yourself, you will always be Kevin Regnard."

The edge of her wound started to glow a sinister dark purple and spread throughout her body, consuming it with purple flames. The girl crumbled into pieces, dissolving in the wind, leaving only a dark-red cloak behind which ranked of blood. She was gone.

"Break! Are you alright?" Sharon rushed forward, cradling the shuddering man in her lap.

Break turned around slowly, stunned. He had forgotten that Sharon and the rest were still there. He looked at his sword; the blood on it seemed to be opaque, slowly shimmering away into nothingness. He felt sick just looking at it.

"Break!" Oz was suddenly in his line of vision. Gil was standing behind him and Alice was peering over Oz's shoulder.

"Oi, clown," she frowned. "Don't die on me. I still don't know where you put the meat!"

"Stupid rabbit, can't you see this is more important than meat?" Gilbert glared at the Chain.

Break almost smiled. Everything was normal again, untainted by the sudden appearance of the girl. Even his sword was now completely free of blood although the black-red cloak was still there, lying in the green grass. He almost retched at the sight of it. He wished it would disappear.

"Break!" Sharon's rosy eyes were filmed by a thin layer of tears.

"Ojou… sama…"

The girl's last words echoed in his mind, burning itself into his memory forever.

_Hatter, you can't run from yourself, you will always be Kevin Regnard._

He groaned and hugged the ground.

That girl… how dare she reappear in his life after all was going so well? She had been there, observing him from the shadows when he was still Kevin.

He had asked his lady about the ever present girl, thinking it was just a friend of his ojou-sama. The answer he had gotten back was disappointing in the least. He was apparently hallucinating, imagining things out of exhaustion.

But the girl was still there, always there. Sometimes she appeared to be smiling sinisterly, other times laughing or talking to herself.

He had often wondered who the girl was, why only he could see her.

Break remembered the first time she had actually approached him, right after he had returned from the Abyss. She was sitting on the windowsill in his room, smiling sweetly and innocently, looking not a day over thirteen despite the fact that he had spent at least half an average person's life in the depths of the Abyss.

Her voice had been sugar sweet, oozing with honey as she mocked him.

_Hello Kevin! My name is Mercy!_

Suddenly, everything in his vision gave a lurching tilt and the world went black on Xerxes Break.


	4. Chapter 4

She awoke once more in the suffocating blackness, blinking slowly. The only difference this time was that the tunnel of light was already there, accessible at her will.

Mercy groaned softly. Her head ached and her chest hurt where that white-haired man, Kevin Regnard, had stabbed her. She couldn't exactly remember what had happened but she recalled Kevin saying something about not being Kevin anymore. It was extremely confusing.

Kevin was still Kevin, no matter at how she looked at it. He was exactly the same as he had been half a century ago. Kevin had even said he had changed and was apparently now called "Xerxes Break." What a foolish and stupid sounding name.

Mercy could see no difference between the Kevin she knew so many years ago and the Kevin now. The white-haired man was just tricking himself. Who was he convincing with that act?

Mercy sighed softly. Now that she was alone, she could let that façade slip. She could now show her true self, not just the Mercy she was on the outside, the calm and cold girl. She could let herself go, revealing the broken her on the inside, the her she didn't want anyone to see.

Kevin was like her, he hid himself underneath a carefully crafted mask of cheerfulness. She had seen him drinking tea merrily with the other people, laughing and joking like the others but yet…

When Kevin had wandered to the balcony, he had let the mask slip, let the ever present smile fall from his face. That was her proof that Kevin had not changed. He was still the bitter person inside.

Mercy looked at the tunnel of light, she should be going now but the darkness cradled her like a newborn baby, refusing to let her go.

It was all _her_ fault, that stupid so-called Will of Abyss. The Will had made sure the darkness would never relinquish her. The Will had made sure that she would dwell in darkness for eternity unless…

"_Who are you?" A girl with white hair cuddling a toy rabbit danced around her, laughing._

"_Who are **you**?" Mercy stared at the girl in shock._

_Only moments ago, she had been walking in the woods. She did this every night, seeking peace and solitude from her parents who were forever bickering. The woods made her feel happy inside. _

_She was walking in the woods, hoping to see an owl or two, when silvery chains had erupted from the ground, snaking around her arms and ankles. Mercy had screamed as the ground below her crumbled apart and she had been dragged down, down into the shadowy depths._

_When she had opened her eyes, Mercy was in a room with red and black checker floors. Dolls were everywhere, floating and cackling. A slinking black wolf- like creature with large blue wings was in a dark corner. All in all, it had been a place of utter madness until that girl appeared. Then, it got even madder._

_She radiated light, her skin glowing in the dark room. Her smile was as bright as a thousand suns and her very presence silenced the chattering dolls. She held inhuman beauty and displayed innocence but Mercy somehow knew that the girl was the most dangerous of them all; even the wolf could not defeat the girl._

"_Who am I?" The girl laughed again. "You should know, after all, you called me."_

"_What do you mean? I didn't call you! I was dragged down by chains!" Mercy was confused._

"_I brought you here."_

"_Why?"_

"_You called me."_

"_Huh?"_

"_I brought you here because you called me." The girl spoke slowly, as if talking to a young child._

"_But I didn't call you!" Mercy protested. She didn't even know this weird girl._

"_You did! You did!" The girl giggled and the dolls laughed with her. "Your very existence called me! And do you know what it told me?"_

"_My very existence?"_

"_It told me," the girl continued as if she hadn't heard Mercy interrupting. "It told me that you could not be allowed to live anymore. It told me that you could not be allowed to leave the darkness!"_

"_The… darkness?" Mercy slowly backed away from the girl. She didn't like the way the conversation was heading._

"_Yes! You will accompany me in the darkness forever and ever!" The girl laughed, throwing her head back. "I will never let you leave!"_

"_But why me?" Mercy took another few steps back. "Why do I have to accompany you?"_

"_Because that's what you were born to do!" The white-haired girl took a step towards Mercy. "That's the reason for your very existence!"_

"_No, no, NO!" Mercy screamed. "I don't want to stay here! That's not why I was born!" _

"_But it is!" The girl took another step, "why else would you exist?"_

_Mercy couldn't answer that. No one could. _

"_You will stay in the darkness forever, never to see the light! You will be cast away, alone in the darkness when you are not needed." The girl smiled, a scary grin on her face._

"_Get… GET AWAY FROM ME!" Mercy shrieked at the top of her lungs._

"_Why? Do you hate me? Everyone hates me, even Moah…" The girl frowned, pointing at the black wolf. _

_In response, the wolf snarled at her._

"_You see? They all hate me and I hate all of them. I hate everyone! Everyone except for that person," She laughed sinisterly. "But it's alright because they can't hate me forever. They have to like me in the end! They HAVE to!"_

"_Come, don't be afraid. I will be your friend and you will be mine! We'll be here for each other for all of eternity!" The girl ran across the floor, pausing in front of Mercy._

"_I don't want to be your friend!" Mercy scrambled back before tripping._

"_But you have to be! You were made for this," the white-haired girl kneeled down, "You **will** be my friend. You **will** accompany me in the darkness!"_

"_No!"_

"_Promise me you will!" The girl reached out a hand._

"_NO! Don't touch me!" Mercy backed herself into a corner._

"_Stay here with me…" _

_The girl gently caressed Mercy's face with a pale hand. As her hand made contact, a sudden jolt of pain sounded in Mercy's heart. Mercy doubled over, panting. It hurt… it hurt!_

"_Do you feel that? It's the power of the Abyss soaking into you. This power can turn people into Chains." The girl lifted Mercy's chin._

"_Chains?" Mercy gasped, clutching her chest._

"_Yes, Chains. Just like Moah." The girl smiled cheerfully._

"_Is that what you are going to do with me?" Tears streamed down Mercy's face. "Am I to become a monster?"_

"_I thought I told you I have other plans for you! I can't only have Chains for company! I'm a human being, I need other humans! Or at least something as close to a human as possible," The girl grinned. "No ordinary human can remain in the Abyss forever but you will…"_

"_Don't… want to…" Mercy gasped._

"_In order to stay in the darkness forever, you will have to change. You must be able to survive in the Abyss. You must live." The girl got up. "Oh! It's time for me to go see that person!"_

"_You're… leaving?" Mercy whimpered._

_As much as she hated that girl, she didn't want to remain here with only the black wolf for company. She had a feeling that the black wolf hated her as much as it hated the girl._

"_I have to see that person! That person promised that he would show me the Vessalius gardens today!" The girl jumped in joy. "Bye Mercy!"_

"_How did you know… my name?"_

"_That's not important! Oh and by the way, my name is Alyss!" _

_With that, Alyss slowly faded, dissolving into particles that slowly drifted upwards towards a shining light. The black wolf snarled and left, spreading its great wings in flight. Mercy was left alone, lying on the red and black floor as pain slowly consumed her._

_It didn't matter where she was, she was always alone. _

She was always alone, cursed to dwell in the darkness for eternity unless she could be freed.

* * *

><p><strong>Kind of a short chapter, well at least shorter than the rest, but I hope you enjoyed it! Review!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**This took me so long to write... You better appreciate it. -.-'' Well, enjoy!**

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><p>Break crunched on his lollipop. Cherry-flavoured ones weren't his favourite but he hadn't had anytime to restock in the past few days. Thanks to his leg injury, he had been confined to the Rainsworth's mansion for a week.<p>

He chewed the hard sugar pieces and slowly swallowed, reaching for a cake. Break was aware of the others staring intently at him. They had been staring for the past half hour.

"Why is everyone staring at me like that?" Break speared the delicate pastry with his fork.

"You know why we're staring at you!" Gilbert growled, slightly annoyed.

"I haven't the faintest idea," Break casually stuffed the cake in his mouth. "Thish, mmm, cake ishz ghood."

"Break! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Sharon set down her teacup, taking out a paper fan.

"All right, all right!" Break swallowed. "This cake is good. Try some!"

"Stupid clown! Are you going to tell us or not!" Alice glared at Break.

"What's there to tell?" Break laughed, "If you don't believe me, try the cake yourself. It really is good!"

"You clown!" Alice lost her temper.

"You flatter me, really."

"Breeeak…." Sharon said.

"Yes, milady?"

"You never change!"

With that, Sharon whacked Break's face several times with her legendary paper fan. Break raised his head from the table, rubbing his now sore and red forehead. The abused man laughed slowly and twirled a sugar cube around in his long fingers.

"Alright, what do you want to know? You saw everything."

"I want to know who the girl is! She was so cuuute! And she looked younger than me!" Oz gazed off into space, grinning like an idiot, no doubt having one of his fantasies.

"Manservant!"

Within the next few seconds, Oz was on the ground, Alice's heel in his back. The Chain was frowning, folding her arms across her chest disapprovingly.

"That girl was NOT cute! She wasn't even a human!" Alice stomped on his back, hard.

"What do you mean, Alice?" Sharon gazed at her curiously.

"I-I-I don't know… She didn't smell human…" Alice stammered, frowning again. "And she felt familiar to me…"

"You're right, Alice-kun! She would be familiar to you. After all, you might have met her in the Abyss!" Break clapped his hands together in mock joy.

"What are you talking about, Break?" Gilbert scowled. "Was the girl a Chain? I thought the stupid rabbit was the only Chain with a human form."

"Cheshire Cat is also a Chain with a human form!" Break declared in a sing-song voice.

"Cat…. c-c-cat…" Gilbert turned pale.

"What's wrong with seaweed head?" Alice turned around.

"Eh… It's just his cat-phobia…" Oz grinned sheepishly. "But Break, please carry on. Just who was that extremely cute girl?"

"She's not CUTE!" Alice jumped on her contractor's back furiously.

"I don't know what exactly that _girl_ is but her name is Mercy, ironically." Break laughed bitterly, "Despite the fact that she doesn't have a single drop of mercy in her blood."

Everyone looked up, interested. It looked like Break was finally going to talk about the subject he had been avoiding for a week.

"I guess I'll have to tell you now, I can't delay this any longer." Break stirred his fork in his tea. "She can manipulate a person's mind just by using her sweet sounding words. I don't want her telling you about this when she returns."

"Returns? Isn't she dead?" Alice stared at the albino, "You stabbed her."

"Yes Alice-kun…" Break clutched his teacup so hard, it was surprising that it didn't shatter. "I did stab her… But she's not dead."

"What makes you say that?" Gilbert asked curiously.

"Ah, Gilbert-kun, I see you have recovered from your **_CAT_** phobia," Break smiled sweetly, sending the poor man into shock again. "And I say she's not dead because I don't think she _can_ die. Right now, she's just in one of the deepest layers of the Abyss, recovering."

"Then she's a Chain, right? Only Chains go back to the Abyss after their deaths here." Oz added.

"Oz-kun, how do you not get it? She's no Chain," Break reached for a sugar-covered pastry.

"Well what is she?" Alice snarled irritably.

"I don't know!" Break put his hands up, exasperated. "I only know that she isn't a human _or_ a Chain!"

"What else is there? She has to be either a Chain or a human!" Gilbert added.

"Actually, the clown is probably right…" Alice admitted thoughtfully. "They say that every so often, a special creature is born in this world that can live in the depths of the Abyss. The Abyss warps it in such a strange way that ensures it would never become a Chain."

"But-"

"Gilbert, I think Miss Alice is correct," Sharon interrupted Gilbert. "After all, she does share a very special connection with the Will itself."

"That's right, seaweed head!"

"What part of me looks like a seaweed head?"

"Everywhere!"

"You stupid rabbit!"

"Thank you, Alice-kun, Raven-kun. Now that we have somewhat determined what she is, if you are willing, we can move on to how I know of her…" Break brushed some cake crumbs off his jacket.

"Ah well… Break, if you don't want to talk about her, you don't have to…" Oz glanced at the white-haired man fleetingly.

"Nonsense, Oz-kun, stop worrying. It's important than you learn all about her while you can." Break waved Oz's protest off.

"If you say so…" Oz shrugged.

"I met her back when I was Kevin Regnard…"

...

"_Milady, would you like anything to eat before we head back to the mansion?" _

"_No, Kevin! There's no time for eating! My parents are waiting for me!" The young girl pouted, stomping her foot on the ground._

"_Alright, milady but the carriage isn't here yet." Kevin laughed._

"_Make the carriage come faster!"_

"_Ojou-sama, I can't do that."_

"_Hmph."_

"_I know why don't you go get some chocolates? I'm sure your parents will love some!" Kevin pointed towards a nearby sweets shop._

"_Ooh! Good idea!" The girl seemed to cheer up instantly._

"_Come on, Emily-sama, let's go!" Kevin started off._

"_NO! Kevin, you can't go! I want to get some chocolates for you too!" Emily tugged at the knight's arm._

"_Then let's get the chocolates together!"_

"_But I want it to be a _surprise!_" Emily protested._

"_Alright, milady, you can go alone. Just don't get lost, okay?" Kevin sighed softly._

"_Okay!" _

"_If you're not back in half an hour, then I'm coming after you!"_

_The little girl was already running off, dress flapping. Kevin sighed. When was Emily going to get more lady-like? He looked longingly towards the distance, what if Emily needed help? She was still a young girl!_

"_You want to protect her, don't you?" _

_Kevin whirled around. Leaning casually against an oak tree, a figure hooded in a red-black cloak was smirking. The figure slowly took off the hood, revealing a young girl, thirteen years of age at most. Her eyes were like black pits with no end._

_It was the same girl he had seen following him around. The same girl that he had been told was his imagination but yet, here she was, in the flesh. Here she was, the girl that had hidden in the shadows and watched him intently._

"_Who are you?" Kevin reached warily for his sword. She felt dangerous.  
><em>

"_Yet you want to protect your master, Florence Sinclair…" The girl leaned forwards._

"_You haven't answered my question. Who are you?"_

"_Who is more important to you, the little girl or the whole Sinclair family?" The girl took a step forwards. "I have a feeling you'll have to make the decision very soon."_

"_What do you mean?" Kevin drew his sword._

"_Would you give up the girl for the family?" The girl laughed._

"_Huh?"_

"_Just remember, the past is not cast in stone. It's accessible for a select few to change, as long as they're willing to make sacrifices. Would you sacrifice that young lady?"_

"_Sacrifice…?"_

"_Yes, Kevin Regnard… Sacrifice. It is impossible to end with everything you started out with, somewhere along the way, you'll have to lose something you hold dear…" The girl walked towards the knight slowly._

"_Don't get any closer!" Kevin pointed his sword at her chest. "How do you know my name?"_

"_That is not important," the girl waved off the question. "What's important is that you understand your values. Only then can you make choices that you won't regret."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_It doesn't matter who I am right now, you'll find out soon enough." The girl laughed once more, as if she had made a joke. She suddenly winced. "Your master calls out for you, his blood cries for your help. But it's already too late." _

"_What are you talking about?" Kevin lunged, his blade an inch above her throat._

"_Remember Kevin, it's not impossible," the girl sighed softly. "The past _can_ be changed. Remember…"_

_With that, the girl slowly faded into thin air._

_Kevin watched in shock as the very real figure in front of him disappeared. What had just happened? Who was that girl? And what did she mean by the past and his master? _

"_Kevin, why is your sword out?"_

_Kevin whirled around, pointing his sword at a very dangerous… Miss Emily Sinclair. _

_She was holding a bag of wrapped chocolates, eyes wide in shock._

"_K-Kevin?" _

"_Ojou-sama! I'm so sorry!" Kevin hastily put away his sword. "I thought… I thought…"_

"_It's okay!" The young girl recovered from the incident quickly. "You were just training and I scared you, right? I'm the one who should be sorry!"_

"_No, no… You don't have to be sorry…" Kevin was still shaken._

"_I bought the chocolates!" Emily pointed to the bag proudly, "I bought them all by myself!"_

"_Oh… excellent…" Kevin scanned around. There! A carriage!_

"_What's wrong Kevin? You don't seem happy that I bought you favourite choco-oops! You weren't supposed to know that… It was supposed to be a surprise and I ruined it." Emily looked sad._

"_It's alright, Emily-sama." Kevin couldn't help but smile. "Let's go back to the mansion."_

_Kevin walked towards the carriage._

"_Kevin, that's not our carriage…" Emily tagged along behind him._

"_It is now. I thought we should go back sooner. You wanted to see your parents, right?"_

"_Yes! Thanks Kevin, you're the best!"_

_They got into the carriage and Kevin gave the driver the address. They were off, the ride would be only half an hour. Nothing would happen to the Sinclairs in only half an hour, the girl was wrong!_

_But still..._

_**Who is more important to you, the little girl or the whole Sinclair family?**_

_Who _was_ more important?_

...

"_What… happened?"_

_Kevin stared at the carnage. The Sinclairs, they were all lying eagle-spread on the ground, their wine-red blood staining his boots. They were all dead._

_Poor Emily was hiding behind him, lips puckered in an "O". Tears filmed her eyes as she recognized each and every member of the dead. Her whole family was gone._

_**Your master calls out for you, his blood cries for your help. But it's already too late.**_

_That girl was right, it was too late. Far too late._

"_What happened?" Kevin lunged upon the nearest survivor, a frightened maid._

"_The family… of the S-S-Sinclairs… w-were k-k-killed by… a t-traitor…" The maid burst into tears. "The other... n-nobles..."  
><em>

_Emily was trembling. "They're all gone…"_

_...  
><em>

_The next few days went by in a blur, people rushing around and funerals taking place… Kevin wanted nothing of it. His master was dead, the whole family was dead except for little Emily Sinclair. _

_Kevin stared at the row of coffins ready to be buried. He couldn't stand it anymore._

"_Father… and mother too… everyone-everyone is dead." Emily was sobbing on the coffins._

_Kevin turned away slowly. He couldn't bear to see his little miss all alone. He headed for the doors._

"_Hey Kevin, don't leave." Tears were rolling down her face._

_Kevin opened the door and stepped out, turning back for one last look._

"_I don't want-I AM ALL ALONE!"_

_...  
><em>

_Kevin gazed at the tombstone of his beloved master. He had just been buried mere hours ago. The name Florence Sinclair was chiselled in it neatly, the words standing out boldly. _

_Why didn't I stay at my master's side? _

_Why didn't I pay more attention to the surrounding nobles?_

_Why had I gone on that outing with Emily?_

_Why? Why? Why? Why? _

_Why did all this happen?_

_Kevin fell to his knees, clutching his head. It was his fault, all his fault. He was the idiot. If only he had stayed with his master, if only he had returned sooner. If only, if only, IF ONLY!_

"Do you wish to change the past?"

_Kevin slowly raised his head and turned to where the voice came from. The sky looked like it was shattering, being pulled apart by an immense pair of silver gloved hands. It was all blackness beyond that except for two red eyes that bore right into his soul._

"Do you wish to change the past? I can help you."

"_Change the past? That's impossible-" Kevin faltered._

_**Remember Kevin, the past can be changed. Remember….**_

_The red eyes that were so much like his own did not blink._

"_Can you… really help me change the past?" Kevin choked. Could this inhuman being really bring back everyone he loved, his purpose of life?_

"She will be able to help you. I will take you to the Will if you form a contract with me."

_Blood dripped from the creature's hands, showering onto Kevin. He let a drop fall on his lips. _

"Say my name, you will not regret this."

_**Only when you understand your values can you make choices you won't regret.**_

"_I agree to a contract with you… Albus." His lips twisted into a wry smile. _

_Little Miss Emily Sinclair needed to be happy. This was the only way. She had been so broken the past few days, moaning if only her parents were still alive. He could help her now, he had the ability._

_After all, _she_ had said so too. The past was changeable. She had also said that a sacrifice was needed but Kevin brushed it away. He would sacrifice everything, anything. He would be willing to make any sacrifice to bring the Sinclairs back, to change the past. To see little Emily smile again._

_**The past is not cast in stone.**_

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><p><strong>I'm not sure what Miss Sinclair's name is but since everyone calls her "Emily" I thought that I would too. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!<br>**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again, peoples! I'm back for another chapter! \(^_^)/ - random smiley face thing. I thought I would just clarify that whenever we're in Mercy's point of view, she always addresses Xerxes Break as Kevin Regnard cause she still sees him as Kevin. Thought I'd just tell you beforehand.  
>Enjoy the chapter! <strong>

* * *

><p>"Remind me why we're out here again?" Gilbert sulked in a corner, under the roof unlike everyone else.<p>

Everyone was out on a balcony again, sipping tea or in Alice's case, stuffing herself full of meat. It was pouring buckets with the occasional thunderclap and lightning strike but no one seemed to notice. All in all, it was yet another absurd tea party.

"Raven-kun, the weather's not that bad! At least we're not wet this time!" Break poured himself another cup of tea cheerfully.

The white-haired man was right of course, they weren't wet this time. Sun umbrellas were set on the balcony although they were now used for deflecting the rain.

"But Break, why do we have to wait outside? We could have a normal tea inside!" Gilbert said, "Besides, those umbrellas weren't made for the rain, they'll probably break or something."

"Ai, Gil, relax! It's going to be just fine!" Oz grinned, a bit too cheerful for someone sitting out in the rain. "Come on, join us! We'll get to see that girl again! I can't wait!"

"Manservant! For the last time, she is NOT CUTE!" Alice looked up from her meat and glared. If she hadn't been eating meat, she would've smacked Oz.

"Alright, Alice, she's not cute. But I still can't wait to see her!" Oz gazed off into space again. "But seriously, Gil, come on, join the party!"

"Parties are supposed to be fun not wet and dreary…"

The black-haired man reluctantly left the shelter of the roof and joined his master. He stirred his tea gloomily.

"Why the long face, Raven-kun? Don't you like tea?" Break crunched a sugar cube.

"Actually, I prefer coffee over tea but that's not the point!" Gilbert took a sip. "I just want to know why you think she's coming today of all days! It's raining!"

"There's your answer!" Break reclined in his chair happily.

"How is me liking coffee the answer?"

"**Stupid seaweed head, no one cares if you like coffee!**" The blue doll in Break's shoulder cackled savagely.

"Emily," Break scolded. "Don't insult Gilbert like that, he'll get frightened! Oh, that reminds me, remember when Gilbert first met Emily, Lady Sharon?"

"Oh, you mean that time you found a stray cat and gave it to Gilbert to take care of it?" Sharon smiled sweetly.

"Ah yes… good times." Break chuckled.

"What happened? What happened? Tell me what happened!" Oz begged the albino. He loved hearing embarrassing stories about his servant.

"Well I gave this poor little kitty cat to Gilbert and I think poor fifteen year old Gilbert-"

"Shut up Break!" Gilbert blushed.

"What happened?"

"And then, Emily started-"

Right then, a wind picked up, howling. One gust of the wind blew away the umbrellas and rain effectively soaked the group in a few heartbeats. There were a few bolts of thunder and one lightning bolt narrowly missed the mansion, crashing into the oak tree on the grounds.

"Oh look, Oz-kun, I think we'll have to finish our story another time…" Break stood up.

"Wait, what's going on?" Gilbert stood up as well.

"Remember your question about how I know she's coming today?" Break managed a faint smile. "Here's your answer. Our world can sense when something that doesn't belong here arrives. Usually, the signs are minor, hardly noticeable but when someone like _her_ comes, naturally, there's a big reaction…"

As if to emphasis his point, lightning lit up the dark sky and for a moment, a dark silhouette was visible among the trees.

Break inhaled sharply.

"She's here."

…

How irritable.

Mercy frowned lightly as a bolt of lightning crackled from the electricity-filled clouds of above, announcing her arrival. It was so annoying that the world reacted to her this way, warning its inhabitants of a stranger. How unwelcoming, greeting her with a thunderstorm. So much for stealth.

As the lightning lit up the world, she saw Kevin, standing on a balcony, his white hair billowing in the wind. He quickly turned around and walked off the balcony. Kevin was coming to meet her, being friendly for once.

Mercy glanced at her favourite oak tree, the only oak tree on the grounds, which had been set ablaze by the lightning. Pity, it was traditional for her to meet the Hatter under an oak tree, she had been doing so for the past fifty years. Looks like tradition would have to be broken.

She waited in the rain, grinning as she saw the silhouette of her favourite knight approach, his coat flapping in the wind.

"This brings back memories," Mercy grinned, pointing at Kevin's coat.

Kevin didn't say anything but narrowed his single red eye.

"Much like the first time I talked to you. The little girl was running, her dress flapping in the wind…" Mercy laughed.

Kevin raised his lips in a faint smile, however, his eye was as cold as ever. His whole body was tense and he looked as if he was trying to resist the urge to punch her in the face. Clearly he was not ready to talk about the past.

"Such a pity that the cute girl met the end that she did. You weren't there to see the changed past you created, as you were still in Abyss, but I saw what happened to her. It was most unpleasant watching her final moments. Shall I fill you in?" Mercy smiled a bit too innocently.

Kevin clenched his hands into fists and bared his teeth. He slowly raised an eyebrow.

"Is that all you came here to talk about? The Sinclair girl?"

"Certainly that can become a part of it if you wish," Mercy took off her hood.

"I'll pass, let the past remain the past."

"What's that supposed to mean? You of all people should know that it's fairly simple to manoeuvre the past into a present of your own liking." Mercy laughed softly.

"I'm sure you remember that the present is not to my liking…" Kevin forced a smile.

"What are you talking about? Look at you! You have friends that would die for you, they could be considered your long-lost family! I'm sure the past has let you go to a better future." Mercy twisted her lips up in a half-smile, half-grimace.

"It was not without a price."

"Ah… your sacrifice…. Poor Miss Sinclair…"

You know you're not here to talk about Miss Sinclair. Mercy, why did you come back to our world after I dispelled you from it?" Kevin let his smile drop.

"Improvement, Kevin! You have finally addressed me by my name instead of trying to kill me!" Mercy's eyes shone with humour.

"Don't call me Kevin." Kevin gritted his teeth. "I just want to know why you're here."

"Always so impatient," Mercy sighed, "So straightforward, seeking the point of everything."

Kevin didn't say anything.

"You want to know why I'm here? I'm here because… because…" Mercy trailed off.

Mercy _didn't_ know why she was here, she had been brought here by the tugging feeling in her gut. When she had left the world, stabbed by Kevin, the only reason the darkness let her go was because her purpose had not been fulfilled.

Mercy smiled faintly. She didn't even know what her purpose in this world was. The tugging feeling had only brought her to where Kevin was and vanished. By all logical meaning, her purpose had something to do with Kevin. The problem was, everything that had happened to her was not logical.

"Well? What are you here for?" Kevin asked impatiently, his white hair matted to his skull from the rain.

"I'm here because…"

The answer suddenly came to her in a flash.

"I'm here because I need your help."

Kevin looked stunned.

"I need your help, Kevin Regnard."

"You need _my_ help? _My _help? What can I help you with?"

Mercy wasn't sure what the albino could help her with but she was sure that was a part of her purpose. Something had to be done, something that only the Hatter could help her with. Something she had to complete, her purpose.

But what could he help with? Mercy could fight, she was even immortal as far as she could tell, living the past one hundred years in and out of Abyss. How could a mere human, a _murderer_ to be exact, help her?

"I… I don't know." Mercy admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kevin seemed to have recovered from the initial shock. "You should know what you need help with!"

He was right. She should know but she didn't. There was just this unexplainable yearning in her heart, a longing for something she couldn't quite recall.

Mercy shook her head. She didn't know, she just didn't know! It felt like it should be there but it wasn't…

Kevin sighed and walked towards the oak tree, the flames were now extinguished by the pouring rain. He leaned against it, gazing at the sky.

Mercy sat down in the wet grass, completely soaked. She smiled softly. Both their masks had slipped, revealing their inner selves. Both were Abyss's toys, broken beyond repair.

"Kevin, I'm sorry."

"What for?" He didn't even seem bothered by the fact that she had called him 'Kevin'.

"I… umm… I don't know. It just feels proper to apologize to you. I just butted into your life after everything was going your way for once." Mercy stared at her hands awkwardly.

"It's alright. Consider this my punishment for all those lives I took under those false hopes…" Kevin sighed once more.

"I'm… sorry about that too…"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Kevin gazed at her curiously, his red eye dead, devoid of emotions.

"Remember all those years ago? _The past is not cast in stone._ The words that started it all," Mercy leaned back, lying on the wet grass.

For a moment, they both gazed at the sky. The storm had stopped and the rain clouds retreated, revealing a full moon encircled by clusters of shining stars. Perhaps the world had started to accept her as one of its own.

"They were true, those words. The past isn't cast in stone, after all, I changed it but at what price?"

"I did tell you that you would have to sacrifice something." Mercy took a deep breath of the cool night air.

"And so I did."

The conversation ended there, the silence only broken by the occasional night sounds. Fireflies flew in the night skies, performing a dance of life. For a moment, they were both content just gazing in the night sky.

"Break!"

They both turned their heads. The others were coming now.

"Break, why did you run off? You haven't finished telling me the story about Gil and Emily and the stray alley cat-" Oz suddenly caught sight of the cloaked girl lying on the grass.

"That's a story for another time, Oz-kun!" Kevin declared in a sing-song voice, becoming the insanely cheerful person once more.

"Break, don't you dare tell him!" The black-haired man said warningly.

"Ah, Raven-kun, it's all in good fun! Besides, it's not nearly as embarrassing as the time when you…"

Mercy sighed. Kevin had a new life now, a life where his past didn't matter. If only she could be a part of it all, a part of a new life. But no, she was confined to the treacherous hold of the past, the past that would never let her go.

Kevin glanced at her way.

"Oh, that reminds me. I haven't introduced you formally yet. This is Mercy."

"Uh… hi," Oz grinned, blushing all of a sudden.

"Nice to meet you, Mercy," Gilbert stuck out a hand. Mercy shook it uncertainly.

"Humph. Does she have any meat?" Alice crossed her arms.

"Miss Mercy! What are you wearing? We have to get you outfitted in a dress right away!" Sharon seemed horrified.

"I… um… I'm not going to be staying so…" Mercy stammered. She was overwhelmed by all the welcomes.

"Nonsense, Miss Mercy, you'll be definitely staying at the Rainsworth's mansion until your… problems are fixed." Kevin flashed a grin, a real smile for once.

"That means I'll get to call the tailor to design a dress for you!" Sharon smiled in an excitable manner. "I'll summon him first thing tomorrow!"

"Oh, that's wonderful, Miss Mercy! You can stay as long as you like," Oz turned to Gil. "She's so cuuuute!"

"It's not even your mansion, don't just invite people to other people's mansions." Gilbert snorted.

"Manservant, stop going into other people's businesses!" Alice kicked the blonde. "But if that creature created from Abyss doesn't take my meat, she can stay."

"Well then, shall we go?" Kevin gestured towards the mansion.

Mercy got up, her cloak wet from lying on the grass. She followed the others to the large stone mansion.

The past was not cast in stone and it was possible to change it, that was true, she had seen it happen before. But perhaps, it would be easier and better just to forget the past and embrace the present, even if it was just for a single heartbeat. You might be happier that way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah, sorry it took this long for me to upload but I had stuff to do, excuses to make and school and random stuff. Anyways, once again, Mercy addresses Break as Kevin. Enjoy!**

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><p>"There," Sharon declared happily. "You look wonderful!"<p>

"I look ridiculous," Mercy grumbled softly.

It had only been a week after Mercy officially arrived at the Rainsworth's mansion and Sharon was already playing dress-up with her. The heiress to the dukedom gave her lessons about romance and how to be a lady but to make matters worse, Sharon encouraged Mercy to call her _big sister_.

Mercy snorted. She was much older than Sharon even though they both appeared to be around thirteen years of age. Sure, everyone said Sharon was also older than she looked, around twenty-three, but Mercy was much,much, _much_ older. She didn't even know how old she was exactly.

"Nonsense, you look amazing!" Sharon clapped her hands together.

Mercy sighed. She recalled how she had ended up in this situation wearing a dress…

…

"_Where are you going, Kevin?" Mercy crossed her arms._

"_Don't call me Kevin," the white-haired man sighed. "I'm going to Pandora."_

"_Again? You went yesterday and the day before…" Mercy frowned._

"_I can't stay at the mansion all day, I have to do work too." Kevin pulled out a lollipop and stuck it between his teeth._

"_You? Work? I find that hard to believe from what I learned about the new you," Mercy snorted. "They say you're a lazy, good-for-nothing slob that's bound to get diabetes someday."_

"_Oh, did milady Sharon really say that?" Kevin appeared hurt, "How cruel of her. But I still have to make sure that Pandora won't find out about you."_

_Kevin was right, Mercy had to admit that. Ever since she had first arrived, they had explained the dangers if Pandora ever found out about her._

_She would be taken into custody and tested. Her powers would be examined closely and in the end, if she was considered too much of a risk to Pandora, she would be executed or most likely sent back to Abyss. _

…

"_But what's the point of researching me if I'm only to be killed in the end?" Mercy had asked. "Besides, they can't kill me."_

"_They can send you back to the Abyss, I'm sure about that."_

"_I can escape from Abyss."_

"_I'm sure you can but how long will you take to come back? Time doesn't flow regularly in the Abyss."_

"_Kevin, I still want to know why they want to research me." _

"_My name is not Kevin," Kevin had replied. "They would want to use your powers and connections to Abyss to get their hands on the Will of Abyss."_

"_Why do they want Alyss? She's such a jerk."_

_Kevin had smiled faintly to that and disappeared into a cupboard…_

_Mercy wondered how he did that._

…

"_Mercy, I'll be going now!" Kevin flailed his ridiculously large sleeves around, grinning cheerfully once more. "Stay here and be a good girl, won't you?"_

"_Good-bye Kevin." Mercy turned away sullenly but added, "Wait, do you know where Oz and the others are?"_

"_Oz-kun? He's running a mission with Gilbert-kun and Alice-kun. Searching for the rabbit's memories again," Kevin pulled on his Pandora uniform._

"_Oh… okay. Wait! Does that mean I'll be with Sharon alone all day?" Mercy was horrified._

"_Hmm… Why yes! I'm sure milady Sharon would be delighted in spending some quality time with you!" Kevin laughed and headed out, using the door for once._

"_No! Take me with you! I don't care if Pandora sees, anything but Sharon! Please Kevin!" _

"_I'm sorry, Mercy, I simply cannot do that," Kevin turned back for one last look. "Oh, and my name is not Kevin." _

_He shut the door._

_After Kevin's departure, Mercy had managed to avoid Sharon for the morning and a better part of the afternoon but they happened to meet in the tea room when Mercy was sneaking in to get some food. Sharon was sipping tea calmly as if she knew Mercy would come._

"_There you are, Mercy! Did you forget that we have an important lesson today?" Sharon set her teacup down and took out her paper fan innocently._

"_We did, Lady Sharon? I'm sorry, it must've slipped my mind." Mercy edged for the door._

"_Don't move," Sharon got up. "I must teach you to wear proper lady apparel today."_

"_Please, Lady Sharon, I have to… have to… do some research for Kevin!" Mercy invented wildly, "So if you'll excuse me, Lady Sharon…"_

"_Stay where you are, Mercy-san," Sharon got closer. "You're not going to get away from me this easily! If Break needed research done, he would get Reim to do it for him."_

"_Please! Lady Sharon, big sister Sharon!" Mercy added desperately._

"_You… called me big sister!" Sharon eyes sparkled. "We're finally getting along!"_

_Mercy was almost out the door when she banged her foot clumsily against the wood, snapping Sharon out of her daydreams._

"_Where do you think you're going, Little sister Mercy?" Sharon smiled a bit too sweetly. _

"_I… er…" Mercy stammered. _

_Curse the stupid door. If she was Kevin, she'd prefer to use closets and cupboards too. _

"_Come on! You're going to have to learn how to use a…" Sharon looked around before speaking. "A corset…" _

_Sharon tugged Mercy by the arm and dragged the flailing girl into her room._

...

"I still think I look stupid." Mercy folded her arms across her chest as Sharon planted bows and ribbons in her now-braided hair.

"No, no, you look amazing! You finally look like a lady without that dirty red cloak!" Sharon happily added another bow, a light blue one.

"I liked the cloak, it was warm."

"It made you look like a homeless beggar. Besides, it was dirty and torn and stained with goodness knows what! It was also a Baskerville's cloak too."

"Baskerville cloaks are red."

"Yours was red."

"Mine had black too."

"It was disgustingly filthy. I already burned it."

"Humph."

Mercy could just remake her cloak from the golden lights but she decided not to tell Sharon that. Kevin was the only one who had seen her create from the lights and she intended to keep it that way.

"Okay, I'm done. You can look at yourself now!" Sharon gestured towards a huge gilded mirror.

Mercy was wearing a dark blue velvet dress with lots of light blue lace and frills. The dress wasn't all that puffed up, which Mercy was grateful for, although the lace was itchy. The fabric of the dress itself was soft and warm, almost like her cloak.

Her long black hair was braided into a sleek pile pinned up on her head. Light blue ribbons were entwined between the ebony locks and the whole thing was held together by a delicate combination of silk ribbons and bobby pins. The bobby pins looked as if one touch could send the whole thing cascading down.

"What do you think?" Sharon beamed happily as she adjusted Mercy's corset.

"I look… like an idiot." Mercy was slightly breathless, most of it due to the tightly-clinched corset.

"Don't be stupid, you look gorgeous! Come on, you have to practice walking in heels too!" Sharon gestured at a pair of satin blue, ridiculously high, heels.

"Are you… crazy?"

Mercy could barely walk barefoot let alone with heels. Heck, she could barely breathe, the corset was crushing her ribs and lungs, pulled way too tight around her waist. Whoever invented the idea of a corset was stupid.

"Are they not high enough for you?" Sharon asked innocently.

"Oh they're… certainly high… enough." Mercy gasped, her sarcasm ruined by her breathlessness.

"Then what's the hold up?" Sharon's eyes twinkled dangerously.

Mercy wanted to retort back but she recognized the glint in Sharon's eyes. Usually, that glint meant that she was ready to pull out one of her many paper fans…

"It's perfectly fine that you're scared," Sharon said.

Mercy was bewildered. Why would she be afraid of a pair of shoes?

"But it's alright, you'll be fine."

"I never said I was scared."

"You didn't need to!" Sharon beamed.

Mercy didn't know what to say to the girl.

"Come on, put these on!"

For the rest of the afternoon, Mercy was forced to walk in the heels around the Rainsworth's mansion much to her embarrassment. Sharon walked beside her, fanning herself with a certain paper fan.

After what felt like ages, Mercy could semi-breathe again, slightly used to the corset. The heels still rubbed against her skin, causing blisters but she wasn't falling anymore which was a major improvement.

"You're getting it, little sister Mercy!" Sharon smiled happily.

"Thank you…" Mercy added on a second thought, "Big sister Sharon…"

"My, my, milady Sharon _was _right…"

A familiar voice came from behind and a familiar figure came out of a cupboard.

"You _did_ get her to call you big sister after all…" Kevin smirked.

"Break, you're back!" Sharon smiled, "And that was the second time she called me big sister today too!"

"Impressive…" Kevin laughed, covering his face with one of his long white sleeves.

"Shut up, Kevin." Mercy crossed her arms.

"My name is not Kevin, Mercy-san…" Kevin flapped his sleeve around, "And you look _wonderful_ in that dress."

Mercy went red. She had completely forgotten she was still in the dress. It was easier to forget than the heels anyways.

"Shut up, Kevin," Mercy repeated, "Lady Sharon made me…"

"Oh ho, ho! Is Ojou-sama playing with little girls again?" Kevin muffled a laugh.

"Break…" Sharon said warningly.

"I'm so sorry, milady," Kevin snickered, not looking sorry at all.

"You're asking for it!"

Sharon viciously attacked the white-haired man with her fan and within seconds, Kevin was sprawled on the ground, clutching his head. Mercy winced as she watched Kevin twitch.

"Any more wise remarks, Break?" Sharon said cheerfully.

Not surprisingly, Kevin didn't answer.

"So… anyways, I'll go and change now…" Mercy turned around.

"Change? Back into those ratty clothes?" Sharon looked horrified.

"Yup…"

"Mercy, Oz-kun is back but you might want to avoid him." Kevin was back on his feet.

"Why?"

"He likes pretty girls," He winked.

"Break!" Sharon screeched.

Mercy said nothing but walked away, trying to move as fast as possible with the high heels clipping at her feet. The dress kept on getting tangled between her legs and she almost tripped a few times.

Mercy sighed. She was a special creature, one that only existed every few thousand years, the only living being that could live in the Abyss without getting warped into a Chain! She could create anything she willed and yet, she couldn't handle a dress and a pair of shoes.

As she walked, she heard the unmistakable bickering of Gilbert and Alice. They were so noisy that Mercy was tempted to go pay them a visit just to shut them up but she remembered Kevin's joking words. They did hold a bit of truth in them, just a bit.

"Mercy!"

Mercy turned around to find Oz holding himself up against a wall, panting. Apparently, that mission must've been pretty exhausting.

"Hey Oz, how was the mission? When did you come back?" Mercy asked politely.

"We just came back. It was great! We found a bunch more illegal contractors and we're going after them tonight! Alice might find more of her memories." Oz smiled happily.

"That's… nice."

"Yeah!"

"Oz, why are you so happy?" Mercy was genuinely puzzled.

"Why wouldn't I be? Alice is getting a new lead on her memories!" Oz beamed.

"But why are _you_ happy? It's not really your problem…" Mercy shivered slightly. It was kind of cold now.

"I'm happy because she's happy. I haven't seen Alice so cheerful ever since the Reveille incident. That's when she found a piece of her memory." Oz explained. "I'm just happy for her, I guess."

"Oh… okay."

The concept of being happy for someone else was new to Mercy. Why should one waste their own energy to be happy for someone else? Besides, Alice was probably happy enough without Oz being happy for her as well. Oz was probably cheerful enough for the whole of Abyss.

"Well… I'm going to go and get changed now…" Mercy summoned her red-black cloak through the ever present golden lights and slipped it on. Much warmer.

"Oh, alright. You look good, by the way!" Oz added, trying not to stare at the cloak that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Thank you."

Mercy went back to her room and took off her dress and the corset without too much difficulty. She put on her ordinary clothes in which she had gathered from the golden lights. She had to create them again, Sharon was true to her words, her old clothes were probably a pile of ash in the incinerator.

Mercy kicked off her heels and chucked them out of the window. Her feet felt so good in her leather boots. She wondered if Sharon would miss the heels but Sharon probably had a ton of shoes.

She collapsed on her bed, thinking. What a concept, being happy for someone else. Mercy couldn't remember the last time _she_ was happy, let alone being happy for other people.

Mercy now knew a bit more about ordinary human people but she wasn't any closer to what she was here for. Certainly not for learning about human feelings.

She felt a little lost.

Everyone had a place in this world, had a thing to do that kept them happy.

Oz and Alice were glad to search for the Chain's memories. Gilbert seemed happy to be with Oz. Sharon had Kevin as a "big brother" and she seemed content just drinking tea and reading romance novels everyday. Even Kevin…

Kevin had proved his happiness was all an act that stormy night. His happiness was a mask, Mercy could see that, and he let it slip every so often. Still, when Kevin wore his mask of happiness and joy, it was so real, so convincing… Mercy wasn't surprised if Kevin had convinced himself into believing he was happy with his life.

Even if Kevin wasn't happy, he had a purpose.

Mercy remembered when Kevin Regnard had been spat out of Abyss, Alyss had been… strangely cheerful. She had hummed about a wish finally on its way of being fulfilled. Related to Kevin no doubt.

Mercy sighed once more.

Who, no, _what_ was she?

Mercy couldn't answer that. Not a human, not an animal and not a Chain. And she was certainly not some kind of vessel to channel the power of Abyss.

And where did she belong?

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading this and I'm not really the type to beg for anything but PLEASE REVIEW! It actually does keep the author motivated and more likely to update which you all have probably heard from countless people. And thank you for those who already reviewed and did... stuff...<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay, the next chapter! I actually managed to finish it without getting distracted by Nyan Cat or solitaire or food or something... Anyways, I feel as if it's time for another disclaimer!  
>I do not own Pandora Hearts or any of the characters, the right is all Jun Mochizuki's. I, however, do own my own character Mercy so don't steal her or anything without permission.<br>Kay, now that I got that over with, ENJOY!**

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><p>"<em>Meeercy, come baaaack!"<em>

_A misty figure loomed up from behind her, stretching its ghostly pale hands over Mercy's head. It appeared to be caressing her in a strange, scary yet somehow gentle way._

"_No! Get away from me!" Mercy backed away from the voice._

_She appeared to be alone in a shadowy room with red and black checker floors. There were few decorations, a couple of chairs and a table along with a few bookshelves tucked into a corner. Instead of books, cackling dolls filled the rows of the shelves, twitching and jerking about._

_They were Chains all created by _her._ They probably used to be illegal contractors who had been foolish enough to attempt to change the past at the cost of endless human lives. They were all dragged into the depths of Abyss, this room, and as their punishment, they sat in _her_ room, forever waiting for nothing._

_How was she back here, back in Abyss? It wasn't time for the darkness to claim her, it couldn't be! She couldn't be pulled back this soon, her purpose had not been fulfilled. She hadn't even figured out her purpose yet! It's couldn't be time!_

"_Mercy… It's time to return to the darkness you were born from…"_

"_It's not time yet! It's too soon!" Mercy clutched her suddenly aching head. She had forgotten what Abyss's influence was like._

_The figure dissolved into the darkness once more, sighing softly. Mist swirled all around Mercy and the figure reappeared. _

_It was a twirling girl with white hair, pale skin and dreamy, unfocused, light lavender blue eyes. She looked so innocent, smiling happily, her hair whipping around. In her hands, she cuddled a soft white plush bunny._

_The girl twirled around a few times, laughing openly and considerably brightening up the darkness they were in. On a lone shelf away from the others, forgotten in a far off corner, a row of Chain-dolls all cackled and laughed in beat to the girl's strange dance. It was all very eccentric and crazy but in a strange way, breathtakingly pure._

_Even though Mercy knew her and hated this girl with all her heart, she still could not tear her eyes off her, stunned by the pureness, the perfection, the light she radiated. There was only one word for it, beautiful._

"_Mercy, you've been out long enough in the world by yourself. It's time for you to come home now. Come home and play with me!" Alyss laughed, a soft tinkling sound, as she cuddled the rabbit. _

"_I'm not going back to Abyss." Mercy swayed uncertainly on her feet._

"_Now, now, don't be a naughty girl. You promised to be my friend forever and forever," Alyss frowned, pouting._

"_I did no such thing, Will of Abyss!" Mercy hissed, "You're the one who kidnapped me from my world so many years ago!"_

"_Mercy, I already explained! I did not kidnap you, your soul called out for me, telling me of your loneliness, your sorrow and I decided to respond." Alyss tittered as she smoothed out the ears of her toy._

"_I was fine until I met you! I'm never going back to that darkness again! I'm never returning to Abyss!" Mercy whirled around, trying to leave the darkness but there was no door, no way to escape._

_She was trapped in this nightmare._

"_Never returning to Abyss…" Alyss repeated thoughtfully._

"_Even you admitted it, Mercy!" Alyss cackled, no longer looking the sweet and innocent girl. "You admitted you belong to Abyss, to me, so be a good girl and come back. Return to Abyss this instant and I might even let you off easy!"_

"_You'd do no such thing!"_

"_Why not? We're best friends, friends forgive each other!" Alyss stared directly at Mercy, her own eyes shrouded._

_Mercy didn't like that. She couldn't see Alyss's eyes even though the Will could see hers. She hated it when she couldn't see a person's eyes, couldn't see the pathway to their soul. When Mercy couldn't see their soul, something was wrong, very wrong indeed._

"_We're not friends," Mercy clenched her fists. "I don't know you."_

_Alyss cocked her head to the side._

"_What do you mean? We've been together for so long, of course we're friends!" _

"_No, no. We are NOT friends, it would be better if we never met. Just… just… STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Mercy let it all pour out. "I WISH I NEVER SAW YOU! YOU RUINED MY WHOLE LIFE!"_

_Mercy dropped down to her knees, trembling visibly. Panting, she gazed up at Alyss who had not appeared to be affected by the outburst except for the fact that the girl was shaking slightly._

"_No, no, no… We're friends. We're best friends. I gave you life, I gave you conscience. I helped you survive the eternal darkness. I gave you _everything._" Alyss was now shaking violently. _

"_I did everything for you, Mercy, we HAVE to be friends. We HAVE TO BE. You ARE my friend, you HAVE TO."_

_Alyss also fell to the ground, appearing stunned. The bunny had been torn apart by her twitching hands, mangled beyond repair. Alyss dropped the remains of the bunny and looked up pleadingly towards Mercy._

"_We _are_ friends, right?"_

"_I'm no friend of the likes of you," Mercy retorted coldly._

"_Now, now, Mercy… I understand… you're going through a difficult time… but… won't you please come home to me? I… I… I miss you, my best friend!" Tears were now pouring down the Will's face._

_For a moment, Mercy felt her heart soften as she gazed at the sobbing girl. Maybe it would be alright if she returned to Abyss, if only she could just comfort Alyss, explain what had happened. Maybe it would be alright if Alyss understood, maybe Alyss would even let her go._

_But no, this was the same Alyss that had plucked out Kevin's left eye without a second thought. This was the same Alyss that had stolen Mercy's life, even if she, Mercy, had cried out to Abyss herself. _

_This was the same Alyss that was very much broken inside, especially after the death of her beloved person. This Alyss was nothing innocent, nothing harmless. She would tear down worlds, trod on people just to get what she wanted. And she had done all this before, once upon a time._

"_No, the Abyss is not for me." Mercy shook her head slowly._

_Alyss took a few deep breaths and got up slowly, still trembling. She took another breath and laughed softly. Mercy couldn't tell if the Will was forcing it or whether it was another sign of her instability._

"_Oh, Mercy, it would be much better for yourself if you gave yourself in. You cannot stay in that world forever." Alyss smiled sweetly, changing personalities instantly._

_It was a mask, all a mask. The sugar smile, the horrible smile oozing with honey… that was just a disguise, covering the unstableness underneath, the insanity. Everything was hidden carefully under that smile. It was just a lure, a simple fake._

"_I won't go back and you can't make me."_

"_Really?" Alyss drew closer, her bare feet dancing on the checker floor, "Can't I?"_

"_I think I can bring you back. What's mine will always be mine, no matter how far the distance separates us. You belong to me and if you are not willing to come back of your own will then I'll just have to fetch you."_

_Mercy laughed bitterly._

"_And who will you send to fetch me? An army of Trumps? Or Mad Baby? None of your creations can leave the Abyss and even if they could, none of them can stand against me. I can destroy them all! Even if you still had B-Rabbit, even if she obeyed you, you still could not capture me! You made me this way, made me into a monster." _

_Alyss smiled slightly, merely a tilt of her pale lips._

_Mercy didn't like that smile at all, even if it wasn't evil and sinister. In fact, it was the plain normality of it that frightened Mercy. It suggested Alyss had something up her sleeve. It suggested that Alyss knew something she didn't._

"_Recognize her?" Alyss laughed as well, a crazy laugh befitting an axe murderer._

_Alyss gestured towards the shadows where a pair of red eyes lurked. They growled and shadows within the darkness formed, the silhouette of two great wings. Shiny teeth gnashed themselves with hate._

"_Moah?" _

_It was indeed the great wolf, the wolf of the black skies. The red eyes glared at Mercy, brimming with inexpressible hatred. Hatred and fear._

_This was the hatred that would make Moah determined to defeat Mercy. This was the fear that would drive Moah to complete her mission even to her last breath. _

_This was the only Chain in Abyss who could possibly succeed in Alyss's impossible task. And this was the only Chain who would dare defy Alyss's orders, regardless of the Will's wrath, and try and bring the inhuman creature back dead._

_Mercy had once heard that a man was most dangerous when they harboured hate and fear. She didn't think it really mattered that Moah wasn't a man, or even a human. Chains would probably react the same way, after all, they all once had human souls._

"_You still remember her!" Alyss clapped her hands together. "What a great reunion! But this is your last chance Mercy. Will you join my side again?"_

"_In your dreams," Mercy snorted. "I will never join you of my own free will."_

"_Then that just means I will have to bring you back by force." Alyss smiled._

_Mercy shivered involuntarily. _

_This time, Alyss's grin was scary. It was creepy enough to paralyze an army of the most fearsome Chains. It was a smile of pure madness, of chaos. _

_Whenever Alyss smiled like that, her white hair would fall in front of her eyes, burying them deep within impenetrable shadows. Her smile would be more of a baring of sharp teeth and she looked as if she was waiting for your blood to be spilt upon her lips. _

_Alyss walked jerkily towards Mercy, as if she was a puppet controlled by the puppeteers' strings. In a way, it was true. Alyss was just a puppet of the Abyss, a puppet to channel the power of the depths._

"_Are you afraid?" Alyss prodded, dancing towards Mercy. "Do you fear?"_

"_N-n-no…" Mercy stammered unconvincingly. _

"_You lie. I can smell your fear, the fear that has been gnawing at you ever since you escaped from Abyss. _What if she finds out? What if she comes for you? _You think that everyday." Alyss licked her lips hungrily, lavender eyes suddenly gleaming. "You're afraid of me but friends aren't supposed to be afraid of each other."_

"_Just don't get any closer, alright?" Mercy shouted, covering her ears. She didn't want to hear the Will's falsely sweet voice anymore._

"_As you wish, best friend," Alyss smiled happily. "We will meet soon enough. Remember, I will come for you…"_

_Alyss appeared to float in the air, drifting in circles around Mercy for a few moments before she exploded into a ball of light. White light particles shimmered in the darkness and showered down upon the black haired girl and for a heartbeat, Mercy wanted to go back to Abyss. It was so beautiful…_

_The red eyes stared out of the shadows, snarling once more. Now that the Will was gone, it leapt for Mercy's throat, teeth flashing. Moah wanted Mercy dead and gone here and now._

_Mercy scrambled back, panicking. It was too close, the beast was way too close. The saliva coated teeth were inches away from her pale, fragile, easily torn and mangled skin and then, suddenly-_

…

Mercy sat up, panting, covered in sweat, clammy all over.

She was back in her room in the Rainsworth's mansion, sitting on a ridiculously large bed for a single person. The shadows were pressing in on her, crushing the wind out of her lungs and Mercy felt a sudden need for fresh air untainted by the heavy scent of fear.

Getting up, Mercy threw open the heavy curtains, revealing a door to the balcony attached to her room. She opened the door silently and walked, barefoot, into the night, breathing deeply.

Mercy leaned on the railing and gazed across the land.

The night rounded the features of the grounds, making it fuller and its shadows covered a vast majority of what was visible. It made everything more realistic, more solid somehow. The stars gleamed merrily and the moon smiled upon her. Not a cloud was in the sky.

She felt safe here.

How foolish of her.

In the clear night, it seemed utterly absurd that the dream, the nightmare, was true. It was just some wild imagery her imagination had concocted in fear. There was no other explanation.

_There's no way it was real, no way._

Mercy breathed deeply, shaking her head, clearing it of confusing, muddled thoughts.

_It wasn't real, couldn't possibly be real._

But still, somewhere deep in her frantically beating heart, Mercy knew, even as she kept denying herself, that the dream wasn't only real but it was also a warning. And it would come true.

The image of the white-haired girl came to her mind again, crushing the rabbit toy and smiling eerily.

Mercy shook her head, trying to rid it of the fragment of the dream, or was it a memory? She couldn't tell them apart anymore.

The girl refused to fade and threw back her head and cackled instead. The broken rabbit fell into the watery substance that covered all of Abyss and live dolls attacked it, pulling the cloth away from the cotton and she did nothing but laugh and watch.

Mercy didn't want to hear what the girl would say next but it came anyways, echoing in the depths of her mind, forever burning the six words into her brain.

_Remember… I will come for you…_

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><p><strong>How was it? If you have just a moment to spare, review and comment. Constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thanks for reading and... um... HAVE A GOOD DAY! XD <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Anyways... Break's version of paperwork! XD That's all I have to say for now so... enjoy peoples!**

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><p>Break hummed softly, flapping his long sleeves as he walked.<p>

Everything was peaceful for once. No rampaging Chains, no urgent calls to Pandora, no nothing. It was nice for a change.

Lady Sharon was at a Pandora meeting for the four dukedoms and as Break was not one of the Dukes or their representatives, he was free for the day. A whole day all to himself.

His subordinates, Oz and Alice as well as Raven had been on a mission once again, hunting the illegal contractors. They came back this morning, exhausted and full of good news. B-Rabbit had apparently found another piece of her memory.

Break sighed happily. He didn't really care about what had happened, sure it was good news that Alice found some of her memory, it brought him one step close to the mystery surrounding the tragedy of Sablier. Mostly, Break was just happy that they were tired and tired people tended to ask him less nosy questions.

That un-cute brat, Oz was just so full of annoyingness. Thankfully, earlier when Break had passed by the blonde's room, Oz had been sleeping.

And even better, Gilbert had gone to visit the Nightrays, mainly his younger brother, the filthy sewer rat, which meant that the rabbit Chain had no one to argue with. She was now most likely sulking with Oz, trying to wake him up to demand food or something.

Break entered his room which also doubled up as an office. There was a huge stack of paper all over his desk, spilling up onto the floor. Pandora never seemed to appreciate just how hard he worked, giving him so much extra paperwork.

He stood there, examining the mountain of work and considered what to do about it. He could give them to Reim to do but the younger man had seemed so grumpy of late. Break couldn't risk offending him lest Reim never does his paperwork again. No, it would be much better to do them himself.

Sighing, Break leaned on his cane and finally decided to pick all the sheets of paper up. Once he had organized them into a more or less neat stack, Break carried it to one of the guest rooms that Gilbert used whenever he was staying over.

Dropping the paperwork on the coffee table in the middle of the plush room, Break drew his sword out and slashed the papers in half, destroying the table as well. He would've done it in his own room but he might've damaged his desk.

Smiling, Break gathered all the shreds of paper and tossed them in the air. It was snowing! Laughing, he walked through the falling scraps of paper towards the door. Who didn't like some snow in the summer?

At the door, Break surveyed the room.

Paper littered the floor and the table was split in half, wood splinters scattered in the carpets. Well, the floor was ruined. Break hoped Gilbert wouldn't step on any of the slivers of wood. If he did… Break winced. Gilbert would certainly have a nice surprise when he returned from the Nightrays. All in all, it was a job well done.

Break strolled towards the tearoom. Now that he was done all his work, perhaps he would finally be able to enjoy a quiet cup of tea. Tea with lots and lots of sugar, of course. He needed to unwind after all that paperwork.

Upon entering, Break was surprised by the appearance of a very bedraggled Mercy. He had forgotten about her.

She was slumped on the table, her face very nearly inside her cup of tea. Her face was even paler than usual and she had dark rings under her eyes. Her hair was brushed over one shoulder carelessly and she was toying with a pastry, picking it to bits. Obviously Mercy had a restless night.

Whistling cheerfully, Break slowly approached the girl.

"Good day, Mercy!"

"Shut up, Kevin."

"My name is not Kevin, Miss Mercy-san!" Break sang as he picked up a pastry for himself and shoved it in his mouth.

"Shut up, Kevin." She continued to break apart the baked good.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Miss Mercy-san, you don't play with food." Break waved his finger naughtily at the girl.

"How can you do this everyday?" Mercy raised her head slightly.

"What do you mean?" Break licked his sugar-coated fingers.

"How can you wake up everyday and be so cheerful, knowing that you destroyed so many lives for a hope of an impossible future?" Mercy gazed wearily at the white-haired man.

"Hmmm?" Break didn't know quite what to say. "What do you mean, Mercy-san?"

"What was it, one hundred and six lives? You killed them all in hopes for a taste of a dream world? It may be possible to change the past but can you control what will happen in the future due to the changed past?"

Break felt as if Mercy was staring into his soul. He didn't quite like the feeling.

"How foolish."

Break froze.

Break looked up at Mercy. Her eyes were narrowed with concentration but they appeared dead, almost bored. She was staring at him in an odd manner, as if she didn't really care about the people who died but just wanted to make him feel bad.

Suddenly, Break felt angry.

"Foolish?"

"That's right," Mercy retorted, "You were foolish to believe that everything would work out in the end. There's no such thing as a perfect world."

"Oh really?" Break laughed angrily, "You think I was foolish? You were the one that whispered all those pretty lies into my ear. The past is not cast in stone indeed!"

"I-" Mercy looked slightly shocked. "I had to say that! It was my purpose the last time I came to this world! Besides, it was true and I didn't mention anything about the results towards the future."

"But how do you know that was your purpose?" Break challenged. There went his quiet tea. "How did you know your purpose, hmm?"

"I just felt it! It called out to me, the words just put themselves into my head!" Mercy defended furiously.

"Then what is your purpose this time?"

"My purpose is to seek your help!"

"For what?"

"I-I-I don't know!"

"Then how come you knew last time?"

"That was different!"

"How so?" Break smiled smugly.

"Last time I knew my purpose because I had another purpose after that! There is no other purpose this time!" Mercy's eyes grew red. "This is the end!"

"What do you mean?"

"This time is the last time!"

Break sat in silence. What did that girl mean that this was the last time?

"This is the last time I will come to this world!" Mercy looked as if she didn't even know what she was saying.

"What about next time? Won't you come visit us after another few tens of years?" Break questioned.

"There will be no next time!"

No next time? What was Mercy implying? Was she finally surrendering to the grips of the Abyss?

"There will be no next time…" Mercy looked like she was going to cry.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know!" Mercy clutched at her head. "It's just all a big blank after that! Like something that's been wiped from my memory!"

"But there's one thing I know for sure. She will send her after me. She will try and bring me back to the deep depths. She will try and bind me there forever." Mercy's eyes were glazed over.

"Mercy-san, are you alright?"

"I will be dragged back into the darkness and the light will never be accessible again. She will never forgive me, never let me go." Tears were pooling in Mercy's eyes.

"Mercy-san!"

"Never to see this world again…"

"Mercy-san, Alyss won't be able to get you here! No Chain can defeat all of us!" Break wanted to shake the girl, she seemed far away.

"That's what I said but she's sending her after me…" Mercy took a few deep gasps. "I am broken and she knows it. She will take advantage of me. I will never fulfill my purpose, my life!"

Suddenly, Mercy stood up. Break jumped forward and restrained the black-haired girl.

"Let me go, Kevin!"

"My name is not Kevin," Break replied calmly. "And you need to take a few deep breaths and calm down."

Mercy obliged to do so.

"Now tell me who's coming after you."

"The Abyss… will send… HER!"

Suddenly, Mercy ripped away from Break's grip and ran for the door. She bolted out in the hallway and ran for the stairs.

"I never did anything to her! Nothing! Why does she hate me?" Mercy disappeared around a corner.

Break ran furiously after the girl, clutching his cane tightly. What on earth was going on? He had never seen Mercy so broken, that rainy night was nothing compared to this. Her past, her time in Abyss must've affected her more than he thought.

"I did nothing!" Mercy wailed. She almost reached the main doors.

"Mercy-san!"

Just before Mercy could slip outside, Break grabbed her arm.

"Let me go, Kevin." Her voice was surprisingly steady for someone who had been screaming moments ago.

"My name is not Kevin."

"Let me go, Kevin."

"My name is not Kevin."

"Kevin."

"Not Kevin."

"_Kevin._"

"Not… _Kevin_."

"Fine. Let me go." Mercy took a few more breaths. She seemed more or less normal.

"Now, Mercy-san, tell me who Alyss is sending after you." Break pulled out a lollipop.

Mercy instantly froze. It was obvious she wanted to stay away from this topic but Break would have none of it.

"Who… is… coming… after… you?" Break gritted his teeth.

Mercy looked away.

"Who?" Break pulled her close, squeezing her arm.

With a huge pull, Mercy wrenched herself away. She stood before the white-haired man, panting.

"Who is after you? Who tries to bring you to Abyss?" Break bit down hard, shattering the hardened sugar.

Mercy turned away and opened the doors and headed out.

"She does not try to bring me back," Mercy did not look back. "She tries to kill me but she cannot."

"Her name is… Moah."

With that, Mercy suddenly pounded her legs and tore out of there, quickly vanishing from Break's sight.

Sighing, Break spat out the crumpled lollipop out onto the floor and sat down on the steps. He thought he should leave Mercy some alone time, she was obviously very fragile right now. Where had the quick-witted, sharp-tongued Mercy gone? There was now a scared, teary girl in her place. The fear almost made Mercy seem human.

_Moah…_

Break rolled the name across his tongue. He hadn't heard of it before but it must be great to break Mercy down like that. The threat of her purpose not being fulfilled must be very great.

It was a Chain no doubt and Mercy must have had a past with it, a past that she did not want to share.

Break was starting to wonder if he did the right thing keeping such a powerful creature like Mercy away from Pandora's eyes. Mercy would provide Pandora with much information and they would be a lot closer to obtaining the Will of Abyss. And of course, if Pandora was a lot closer to the Will, then Break was a lot closer to fulfilling his own destiny.

Laughing bitterly, Break stood up. If Pandora had found out his purpose, his goal, it would become messy indeed. Would Pandora spare him just because he was their best field agent? Probably not, anyone interfering with Pandora's goal would most likely be eliminated. The question was, how many of his fellow members would he have to hurt?

Break stared out through the door.

His problems didn't matter now, the immediate focus was Mercy. She had to find out what she had to do in this world before it was too late. She said she needed his help but what for? Time was ticking and it was a matter of time before Abyss reclaimed her or Pandora found out.

When Break finally snapped out of his thought, the sun was setting, gilding the land in a layer of red-gold. It had been hours since Mercy's flight. Sharon would be coming back soon and so would Gilbert. He should hurry and find Mercy before they came back.

Stretching out his legs, Break grabbed his cane and headed out. As he walked, something felt off. The sun seemed too red and it appeared to hang in the sky, floating almost.

_Our world can sense when something that doesn't belong here arrives. Usually, the signs are minor, hardly noticeable but sometimes…_

Break looked out in the horizon. This was one of those sometimes. Something was out there powerful enough to make an obvious difference to one who could read the signs. This must be a powerful Chain.

Suddenly, Break felt a searing pain erupt in his upper right arm. It burned like fire and ice and Break felt himself running into the forest, gasping and squeezing his arm. As he got closer, the pain intensified.

Something had happened to Mercy, he was sure about that. And the Chain was involved in what happened.

The pain was almost overwhelming now, numbing his whole arm. It felt like he was losing control of it, he couldn't even flex his fingers anymore.

This was Mercy's pain, he could feel it. They were linked together by some invisible thread of fate. Mercy needed his help and somehow, he needed hers. If anything happened to either of them right now, the other would have failed in their life.

The clock was ticking for both him and Mercy.

Break could fight against practically anything, Chains, people, he had even attacked the Will long ago. He could fight and win against anything, he had to win against everything but he could not defeat time.

And time was running out.

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><p><strong>Yeah, I hope you people liked it and I'll try to upload another chapter ASAP, despite the fact that I still have a mountain of harmony homework... -.-'' Oh well!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Yeah, I know I haven't uploaded in a long time. I had this written out like... two weeks ago but then, I didn't feel like editing and I had homework and other stuff to do (not really) and WHAM! February's over! So I thought I would upload this instead of doing homework cause who likes doing homework? Of course, I end up doing it at 1 a.m. so it's not exactly a win-win situation.  
><strong>**I'm sure you don't like reading how my day goes so I'll just stop and ENJOY!**

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><p>"You… you're really here. It wasn't… a dream after all… It was true…"<p>

Mercy panted slowly, clutching her now useless right arm. There was a long gash torn into the flesh from shoulder to her wrist. It was jagged and the depth varied, obviously not the clean cut of a sword but something more savage. The wound was bleeding heavily and Mercy's already pale arm was growing ever paler as the red liquid leeched out continuously.

"_You are wrong, it was a dream."_

Mercy glanced up at the creature that had attacked her. It was swathed in the shadows of the twilight forest but Mercy could still see every last detail of her hated enemy.

It was a wolf-like creature with long, slim limbs. Its fur was shaggy and thick and was as black as Mercy's hair and eyes. The creature had wide sweeping blue wings sprouting from its shoulder and a long furry tail. The claws were black and every so sharp and the creature's white fangs were dripping with red.

"It was a dream?" Mercy repeated questionably. "I thought it was real…"

"_Yes, humanoid girl, it was just a dream."_ Moah licked the blood, Mercy's blood, off its muzzle. _"But dreams are never just dreams for one made for Abyss."_

"What's that supposed to mean, _Moah_?" Mercy watched her nemesis carefully.

"_Do not say my name with such contempt, humanoid girl. You should be honoured you have the chance to mouth it at all with such a foul, undeserving mouth."_ Moah snarled, eyes flashing. It took a few steps closer to Mercy.

"At least I say your name, messenger of Abyss. You could at least say mine." Still eyeing Moah, Mercy summoned her trusty black sword. She didn't like the way Moah looked at her.

"_Young humanoid creature,"_ Moah laughed, baring its sharp teeth. _"Why should we soil our mouth to say your pitiful name? We have a thousand more years of experience than you. You are not worthy of our acknowledgement."_

"A thousand years?" Mercy looked up, interested despite herself. "I thought Alyss only came into being a hundred years ago."

"_Abyss existed before the puppet did. Abyss was once a glorious place filled with gold lights but once she came, she tore it all apart with her selfishness, greediness and desire."_ Moah snarled, _"This is why, we, the oldest of the old, hate her."_

"But you still obey her, don't you? You're tied down by her chains, her power," Mercy taunted.

"_Power? Don't make us laugh, youngling, that puppet has no power. We came because we wanted to, to show you how fortunate you are."_ Moah prowled closer._ "You are not as grateful as you should be."_

"Why would I be grateful?" Mercy slowly let her hand drop from her arm and clutched the sword with both hands.

"_You have everything. You have power, intelligence, a strong will and most of all, life. It would be a lie to say we are not envious of you."_ Moah stopped a metre away from Mercy.

"Why would you, such a powerful Chain, be jealous of me?"

"_You have what we do not, why would we not be jealous? Your memory fails you, we have had this conversation long ago in Abyss when you were younger and I stronger. Abyss loses its power." _

"Did we have such a conversation before?" Mercy honestly could not remember any details of her past. Perhaps by leaving Abyss, she left part of her behind.

"_Enough, young humanoid, it's time for you to return to Abyss."_

"Is that my only choice?" Mercy laughed bitterly, "You would still try to kill me even if I was willing to return to Abyss."

Moah grinned, a scary sight.

"_You are wise beyond your years, humanoid. We do intend to bring you back by force."_

Suddenly lunging forward, Moah swiped one of her huge clawed forepaws at Mercy's head. Mercy threw up her sword and barely managed to deflect the attack. Sparks flew as Moah's claws and Mercy's blade grinded together with an ear-piercing screech.

Withdrawing her attack, Moah jumped back and catapulted herself into a tree. Laughing, Moah examined Mercy from its high perch on a tree branch.

"_You are good. It's such a pity you were born what you are. Otherwise, we might spare you."_

"I don't need a _coward_ to spare me."

Mercy ran across the forest floor, dragging her blade, and leapt on the side of the tree. Bracing her legs, she jumped up to Moah's branch and raised her sword. Swinging it, Mercy dealt a blow to Moah's flank.

Moah withdrew back out of surprise more than pain. Growling, she fended Mercy back with a swipe.

"_Coward you say? Who's the coward?" _

"You are!"

Mercy tried attacking again, going for the other side. She preformed the same technique, jumping high above Moah's head but the Chain was prepared this time.

Moah spread her large blue wings and manoeuvred out of the sword's reach just in time to avoid the metal bite. It lashed out and its forepaw made contact, sending Mercy flying head over heels into another tree.

"_Shut your foul mouth, you dirty humanoid." _Moah approached the limp figure leisurely.

Mercy panted slowly.

She fumbled for her sword; she had dropped it after being flung halfway across the forest. Her arm wound was bleeding as heavily as ever and Mercy winced as she felt several new scratches and scrapes. A lump was rising on the back of her head where she had banged it against the tree.

"_You do not even deserve to be talking to us, much less calling us coward." _Moah growled softly.

"Ha… it's the truth you overgrown dog. You attacked me as a coward earlier."

"_How dare you!" _Moah stepped on the black sword and it faded into brilliant golden lights. _"It was not our fault that you did not notice our presence. Your arm is evidence of your carelessness."_

"You act as if you are all high and mighty but you fear me as well, don't you?"

Mercy was now stalling for time more than anything. She needed time to recover enough to attack Moah once more but the thing was that time seemed to be against her at the moment.

"_Us? Fear you? Why would we? You have to gain another century of experience before rivalling us again." _Moah growled uncertainly.

"But you did not come alone."

"_What do you mean, humanoid?"_

"You were afraid of me, that's why you brought _them_."

Right on cue, the wind howled for a split second and the sky grew dark. Trees rattled and shook as a dozen large figures forced themselves into the clearing. A dozen creepy smiles gleamed eerily in the moonlight.

"Trump cards," Mercy laughed. "You brought in Trumps to deal with me."

"_Silence, humanoid," _Moah hissed.

"Trumps… you fool." Mercy laughed again and closed her eyes.

The Trumps had provided enough time and distraction for her to regenerate some of her power. Mercy focused her energy and brought forth from the light another weapon, a longbow and a quiver of arrows.

The longbow was made of a polished black wood with two silver blades attached to both ends. Golden designs were etched in and raised on the wood, covering the surface with a web of intricate gold. The string was drawn and taut, ready to send an arrow flying with a pull.

"_Humanoid, I hope you're not thinking about attacking me."_ Moah narrowed her eyes. _"You are far too weak and tired to do so, even if you have gained enough strength to abuse your wretched power."_

"Let's see about that!"

Mercy feinted a jab with one of the blades towards where Moah's heart would be. Moah jerked back, hissing as Mercy stabbed Moah's right front leg instead, slashing it open from shoulder to paw. As she pulled the blade out, blood ran down the length of the bow and flowed across her hand.

"And eye for an eye, eh?"

"_You wretched humanoid, how dare you laugh at us!" _Moah retreated temporarily, licking the wound clear of dirt.

"And what if I did?"

Mercy laughed at the Chain on the outside whereas in reality, she was fearful and scared. The blood from her own arm wound would not stop bleeding and if she didn't stop the flow soon, she would be in trouble.

Dying was nothing to her, she had experienced it many times but Mercy doubted that the darkness would let her leave this time. The darkness had only let her last time because Alyss was not yet aware of her escape. Either that or Alyss didn't care.

Mercy worked out her strategy. Right now, Moah was recovering from her wound and although Mercy could try, she doubted she could finish the Chain off in her weakened state. Mercy would only hurt herself more than it was necessary. She should escape but Trumps surrounded the area so if Mercy was to get out of this encounter alive, she must eliminate the lowest of Chains first.

Scrambling up from her crouch beside the tree, Mercy took out three arrows from her quiver, fletched with white feathers which contradicted against the black wood, and took aim. Her shot was true.

Three Trumps groaned and their head exploded violently, cotton clumps flying in all directions. Slowly, they crumpled to the ground and their remains sunk into black portals which, no doubt, led to the Abyss.

Three down and nine more to go.

Mercy whipped out another three arrows and shot again, taking three more Chains down. By this time, their companions were wary and approached Mercy, hands outstretched. They seemed to understand that they must eliminate this tiny threat from which death emerged.

Mercy reached for more arrows and by this time, Moah seemed to have rested enough.

"_Humanoid, you seem to forget that these are our Trump Cards and no one gets the pleasure to kill our Trumps except for us!" _

Snarling, Moah leapt, claws extended. Mercy drew another arrow and took aim and fired. In Moah's rage, she did not try to avoid the arrow, which she could've done easily, but instead ran head on. That was her mistake.

A black arrow soon sprouted in Moah's shoulder.

Howling, the Chain stumbled and fell. Seizing the chance, Mercy shot the rest of the Trumps in quick succession.

As the Chains were dragged back into the depths of Abyss, Mercy slung her bow over her back and ran, keeping close to the trees for cover.

"_Where art thou going?"_ Moah came out of nowhere, savagely howling.

Mercy didn't reply but lunged right, avoiding one of Moah's attacks. She leaned back to the left and managed to slice another bloody streak across Moah's flank with her bow blade.

Moah faltered slightly but didn't slow down. Its eyes were gleaming with hatred and fear. The Chain seemed to be beyond feeling pain now. Instead, right after it recovered from the initial shock, its legs moved in a blur and kept pace with Mercy, despite how quickly its blood was pouring out.

"_Merrrrcy, thou will not escape our grasps," _Moah rolled the 'r' in her name.

"We'll see about that!"

With fierce determination, Mercy braced herself on a tree trunk and launched herself into the air. Moah looked up, surprised by the shadow of Mercy flying over her and stumbled across a tree root.

Mercy landed on a tree branch in front of Moah and sent an arrow flying in the Chain's stomach. She released another three arrows rapidly.

Moah howled and shook itself, slamming into a tree trunk. It then ripped the arrows out as if they were nothing more then insect stings. Red eyes now literally glowing in the falling night, it looked up and growled.

"_Thou art a fool. Thou dareth to invade our domain and use it to hurt us. The sky is ours and thou shall pay!"_

Moah charged recklessly towards the tree Mercy was perched on and head butted the trunk. The tree shuddered and Mercy almost fell out of it which was presumably what the Chain wanted. The tree shook again. Either that or Moah wanted to uproot the tree.

"The sky is not yours! Such a mangy dog has no right to lay claim to anything!"

Mercy jumped out of the tree and gripped her bow with both hands. Clutching the wood until her knuckles were ghostly white, Mercy brought the blade down on Moah's head, dealing what should've been a fatal blow.

Instead, the bow trembled as the blade sunk into Moah's skull and shattered. Thousands of wooden splinters flew everywhere and slowly transformed back into golden lights again. Mercy was flung backwards by the force, hurtled into yet another tree, crushing her now useless arrows underneath her. Stupid forest.

Moah now adopted the appearance of some kind of unicorn with the silver blade in its head. It didn't seem too bothered by it but rubbed its massive paw against it, trying to un-lodge the metal.

"_The power of Abyss did not only grant you strange powers," _Moah approached Mercy, baring its teeth in what it thought was a grin. _"We cannot be killed like such, head wounds will not kill us, no matter how grievous they may be." _

Mercy struggled to get up but found that she couldn't. The last of her strength seemed to have deserted her after her final attack on Moah. Instead, she could only glare defiantly up at the ever closer Chain.

"You cannot… last much longer… either, creature of Abyss," Mercy hissed softly.

It was true. It was losing too much blood and every drop of blood Moah shed was collecting in a pool of darkness at its feet. The portal, the way back to Abyss was forming. Once Moah's blood ran dry, it would drag the Chain's body back to Abyss, most likely to provide life for it again.

"_You art also a creature of Abyss. But that is true, humanoid, we cannot last much longer but we intend to take you down with us."_ Moah trembled slightly as it tired.

Metal links were starting to climb up Moah's legs, entwining the creature in black chains. They were slowly covering Moah's whole body and the Chain had to struggle just to be able to move.

"Time… is running out… for you…" Mercy laughed, "Time… is running… out for… both of us…"

The stars were swimming in front of her eyes, Mercy could no longer see them clearly. In fact, the world was tilting around her and everything became blurry and unfocused. The loss of blood must have induced it.

"_You are a wise humanoid," _Moah raised its front paw, _"Rest content that you have killed the powerful Moah, even if it was at the cost of your life."_

"You… are wrong…" Every word was an effort for Mercy now, "You cannot… kill me…"

She couldn't feel her wounds anymore, her whole body was buzzing and going numb. The end was closer than she thought. There was no more time.

"_Yes, humanoid creature, we know. That accursed Will told us that you cannot fade into the void but every death would only return you to Abyss's grasps. This time, Abyss won't let you go. We are content knowing that we have sacrificed our lives so you may be imprisoned in the dark forever. Besides, humanoid, Abyss may restore our lives as well. We have served it well."_

No… She didn't want to go back… No…

"_Rest in Abyss's grip forever, humanoid."_

Mercy heard metal clinks as Moah raised her paw for the last blow. As she closed her eyes, she heard a ripping sound and a warm liquid, presumably blood, splattered across her face and soaked her clothes. The numbness must be worse than she thought if she couldn't feel a wound that severe.

She heard the Chain howl, presumably in victory that it had killed its long time enemy. Screams erupted all around her but she took no notice.

She felt blood pool by her sides but she couldn't tell whether it was from the final attack or from the other wounds. Mercy didn't bother to open her eyes but she had a feeling that if she had, only darkness would've greeted her.

It was all over.

The darkness was already calling her, urging her to give up.

_Mercy… Come baaaack….._

For the first time since her coming to this world, Mercy wanted to give up. It seemed so easy, to let herself fall into the embrace of Abyss. Perhaps she was never meant to fulfil her purpose. Perhaps Fate had ruled it so.

_Mercy…_

"Mercy!"

Two sets of voices were tearing her apart. One was faint, vaguely familiar and strangely irritating while the other was warm and comforting. It promised rest.

_Mercy… Come…_

"Mercy, don't you dare! Open your eyes!"

_Merrrrcy….._

Mercy squeezed her eyes closed even tighter.

"Mercy!"

Mercy freefell in the dark and saw colours again, arriving in a red and black checker room. A girl with white hair in a white dress looked at her and smiled.

She was… home.

_Mercy, you came back. I missed you!_

"Mercy!"

The image of the girl wavered slightly, flickering almost. It was very disorientating.

For a moment, that distant voice almost jerked her away from the room and Mercy was tempted to open her heavy eyelids, lifting them slightly but she let them fall again. She was so tired, it would be a waste of energy to fight to keep her eyes open.

_Mercy, don't listen. You're back where you belong now._

Mercy raised her lips up in a half smile. Alyss was right, she did belong to the darkness, she would be shunned by anywhere else.

This would be the end, no coming back from Abyss. It would never let go and somehow, Mercy relished the fact. At least something, someone cared.

Sighing, Mercy let the darkness claim her once more for the last time.

Her time was up.

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><p><strong>How was it? It's long so that should make up for my absence, right? Review and tell me how I did and I'm going to go and... play solitaire or something... *facepalm*<br>I have no life on the computer. *sad face* **


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